By LOIS KINDLE
lekindle@aol.com
Haven of Hope of Hillsborough president, Janet Smith, and board member Mary Huntington recently presented the keys to a 2009 Buick Lacrosse to Maggie Carr, a participant in the LEAP prison education and re-entry program in Miami.
The faith based, nonprofit program provides education, housing, job training and support for women transitioning out of prison.
COURTESY PHOTO
Haven of Hope President Janet Smith, right, and board member Mary Huntington, left, recently presented the keys to a 2009 Buick Lacrosse, donated by a Freedom Plaza resident, to Maggie Carr, a resident of LEAP, a faith-based transition home in Miami.
Carr, 62, was convicted of 1st-degree, premeditated murder and served 32 years of a life sentence before being released on parole last October from Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala. Now living in a LEAP residential home in Miami and employed by the organization’s Dragonfly Thrift Boutique, she needed a vehicle to expand her opportunities for employment and independence.
The pre-owned Buick was donated to Haven of Hope — a faith-based, charitable organization providing financial and spiritual support for women who’ve demonstrated a commitment to rebuilding their lives after incarceration — by a Freedom Plaza resident who no longer drives. After a few minor repairs, the vehicle was ready to present.
“I’m extremely grateful to Haven of Hope and the LEAP program for what they’ve done for me,” Carr said. “In all sincerity, I wouldn’t be where I am today without their generosity, kindness and support.”
Haven of Hope was founded by Smith, a Sun City Center resident, as a residential, faith-based ministry in Ruskin. It provided a transitional home, where up to five women received shelter and support as they re-entered life outside of prison.
Smith previously volunteered for four years at Hillsborough Correctional Institution in Balm until it closed in 2012 and knew first-hand the benefits of a faith- and character-based program.
“When I started there, I met so many ladies who were just jewels,” Smith said. “They were just like me except they’d had a bad upbringing or made bad choices.
“I’m a minister’s wife, so when we both retired in 2006, I felt a void in my life and a friend invited me to help at Hillsborough C.I. In addition to spiritual counseling, I started mentoring and teaching pickleball, which I found deeply fulfilling.”
Due to the COVID pandemic and other circumstances, Haven of Hope’s transitional home closed in the fall of 2020, Smith said. But the organization continued giving second chances to released women prisoners who are in or have completed a transition program that provides spiritual support and financial help with living expenses, including down payment on a rental home or apartment, the cost of getting a driver’s license, payment of fines, a medical or electric bill – even dentures.
To qualify, recipients must fill out a grant form to be reviewed by the four-member Haven of Hope of Hillsborough board, show they have a job and are attempting to provide for themselves, have changed their old way of living and demonstrate they have a need they’re unable to meet.
Approved funding goes directly to the entity owed or expenses are reimbursed upon receiving receipts from the grant recipient. Spiritual counsel and guidance are provided, as needed.
Since 2020, Haven of Hope has awarded more than $50,000 in grants to more than 50 “deserving” ladies, Smith said.
If you’d like to help, donations can be made out and sent to Haven of Hope, P. O. Box 5261, Sun City Center, FL 33571. For more information, email janet.smith12@comcast.net/.