The Journey
After more than five years operating in Virginia, True Beginnings was relaunched in 2019 in Las Vegas. Founder and CEO Vera Moore, a formerly incarcerated Black woman, has leveraged her own experience with the system and with reentry to inform both the organization’s direct services and advocacy work. In her own reentry journey, Ms. Moore directly endured the same barriers that face the vast majority of women coming home from prison. She is dedicated to improving the experience for other women by providing true access to prosperity and equity through wrap-around services such as housing, trauma informed case management, life coaching, nutrition and wellness workshops, family therapy, employment readiness groups, and other gender-responsive programming. Ms. Moore understands that personal transformation must be matched with societal transformation, so True Beginnings also advocates at the state level for systemic changes to the current system which perpetuates harm and trauma.
Accomplishments
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Opened Divinity House in March 2020 amid a global pandemic, moving in three women at opening.
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Housed 23 women since March 2020, nine of whom have secured permanent housing in the community.
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Successfully advocated for recognition as a diversion program by the Department of Corrections and metro police department.
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Selected as an advocacy member of the Southern Nevada region’s continuum of care, becoming the only reentry organization with membership.
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Secured the Nevada Department of Housing and Urban Development’s commitment to count formerly incarcerated people in reentry housing in statewide census counts.
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Launched a formal partnership with the College of Southern Nevada to be their workforce reentry partner for formerly incarcerated students.
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Established an employer partnership with Wynn Las Vegas hotels.
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Chosen to participate on several panels that support programing for incarcerated women as an expert on ending recidivism.
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Advocated in support of several bills listed in the 2021 legislative season:
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SB254 - Fair Chance Housing-enacts limitations on how conviction history may be considered - amended and passed through for vote. Vetoed by Governor
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AB116-decriminalization of traffic tickets- approved by Governor
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AB151- ending driver’s license suspension-amended, did not make to vote
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AB158-ending the criminalization of juvenile possession-approved by Governor
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SB50-prohibiting a magistrate from issuing a no-knock arrest warrant except under certain circumstances-approved by Governor
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AB131-revising provisions requiring certain peace officers to wear a portable event recording device-read but never made it to vote
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