THE ULTIMATE SECOND CHANCE

Reinventing yourself takes work, and for those who've been incarcerated, fighting to heal on top of reintegrating into society is an additional challenge. Thankfully, there are organizations helping to lift women up.

- EMMA ATHENA

CHEYANNE GUZY

LEAP employees changed her life, helping her transition out of prison and into steady work. "They have my back," she says.

Until September 2021, 34-year-old Cheyanne Guzy was incarcerated at Florida’s Homestead Correctional Institution, a state prison on the southernmost edge of the United States, some 30 miles south of Miami, abutting an alligator farm. During her time inside, it held more than 600 women, crowded together, 70 to a room. Having struggled with drug addiction in the past, Guzy enrolled in a substance-abuse prevention program provided by the prison in 2019 but found it to be largely ineffective. And once COVID-19 hit in 2020, a prison-specific “new normal” unfolded: spreading sickness, total lockdown, no more time outside, no visitors, no mail, fewer phone calls, and no group classes, therapies, or programming. And for Guzy, a relapse.

"There were quite a few women who ended up relapsing like I did," she says. Not even pandemic lockdowns could keep drugs from circulating. "We got high to numb the pain," she says. "But that was all before I was involved in the LEAP program."

LEAP stands for Ladies Empowerment and Action Program. It's a nonprofit reentry program run by Miami-based community members who organize classes and group therapies for women in prison, helping them build employability and essential life skills through entrepreneurship, self-love, and mentorship. The organization also helps women navigate the release process-finding housing, transportation, employment, and other forms of assistance on the outside.