Success Stories - Persevere

Arizona

It’s Just Me: Shandea Hardin’s Story

She admits now that Persevere saw something in her that she didn’t, or could not. She fell in love with coding almost right away and discovered that the problems and solutions-based-thinking came naturally. It also helped her learn to speak again. In her own words: “I was just beginning to talk again because I had been a trauma-induced mute for two years. Coding helped me level up as a human being, helped me develop crucial communication skills.

Alec Niedenthal March 18, 2024

Success Stories

“I Crawled Up from the Mud”: Jason Doty’s Story

“I was in a dark, angry place. It was an animalistic time. You sleep with your shoes on there. You step over bodies in the morning. But when I found Persevere – when Josh found me – it was like rocket fuel. I was ready to take off and do something great, if I was lucky enough to get out.” Jason found the classroom experience not only immensely engaging in itself, but to be an escape from “the madness around [him].”

Alec Niedenthal January 31, 2024

Breaking the cycles of incarceration before it begins

National Institute to Unlock Potential

Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration – Before It Begins

A 10-week program for at-risk youth not only unlocked Sam’s Club career opportunities for Jalyssa Zaragoza, but also her potential.

Walmart.org November 23, 2023

Arizona

Some Kind of Hope: Tiana Turman’s Story

“When Persevere came to me,” she concludes, “I was literally depressed to the point where I didn’t want to wake up. My time was hard and that last year was the hardest. I got fired from a good job. Some officers and inmates were trying to get me off the yard. But then Persevere put a shield around me so no one could affect me. They couldn’t take Persevere away from me. I was part of that 22-women group and we hid in the arms of the program.” Beyond a job, then, coding provided her some kind of hope.

Alec Niedenthal October 20, 2023

Arizona

Digital Dreams: Turning Incarceration Into Innovation

Digital Dreams. In the spring of 2022, I stood at the crossroads of my life with a year and a half left in my prison sentence. It was then that I took a leap of faith and applied for acceptance into the Persevere Coding Program, not entirely certain of what lay ahead but driven by my tech-forward mindset. When I received that acceptance letter in May of 2022, I knew I was on the brink of something transformative. My journey into Full Stack Web Development, with a focus on MERN, began with anticipation, and I threw myself into the curriculum with unwavering commitment.

Stephanie Love October 16, 2023

Success Stories

Turning a Fall Into a Leap: Mark Clark’s Persevere Story

What Persevere did is say: ‘Here’s this opportunity for you to have a second chance,’” something that Mark’s society–our society–often fails in, even, or especially, after the rehabilitation of prison.

Alec Niedenthal September 7, 2023

Category: Success Stories

It’s Just Me: Shandea Hardin’s Story

“I Crawled Up from the Mud”: Jason Doty’s Story

Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration – Before It Begins

Some Kind of Hope: Tiana Turman’s Story

Digital Dreams: Turning Incarceration Into Innovation

Turning a Fall Into a Leap: Mark Clark’s Persevere Story