This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.
The first step into a new direction can be the most difficult. But what if you spent years incarcerated and then had to take your first step back into society alone?
Did you know that the first 24 hours after someone is released from prison often determine whether they don’t go back? And nearly 50% of people released from jail reenter within three years. That’s because without a reentry plan, finding housing, work and recovery support can feel impossible.
Here’s the good news: in Bloomington, no one has to take the first step alone. This organization is built to help people break the cycle of incarceration in their lives: New Leaf, New Life (NLNL).
What is New Leaf New Life?
Since its inception in 2005, New Leaf New Life has helped thousands of people reclaim their lives, identities and purpose after a life spent incarcerated.
In 2025, they provided services to nearly 75% of Monroe County inmates, where 3,400 individuals were set up with reentry plans and resources. From that group, less than 14% of them faced recidivism, compared to the 34% of Indiana inmates who reoffend on average. Their mission: “to be a part of a big change in Bloomington through [their] work inside and outside the jail; building a stronger community, hope, and opportunity to locals affected by the legal system.”
New Leaf New Life walks the walk
Many NLNL staff members are former participants themselves, including Heather Bland, the newly appointed executive director. “We don’t tell people what to do. We empower them to make decisions for themselves,” she said. “We have the resources, but we give people the agency to choose. It’s a collaboration.”
Bland struggled for nearly two decades of her life, oscillating in and out of jail and sobriety. But at 40, she decided her arrest in 2018 would be her last. “I just said, I’m done. I surrender [God].” And that new leap of faith brought her to New Leaf, New Life.
“The resources were vast, but I had to take the step,” she said. Those steps led her to sobriety at Courage of Change, followed by honest work at Wendy’s, and eventually opportunities with local recovery organizations — experiences that ultimately opened the door to an entry-level position at NLNL, and eventually executive director.
It’s not lost on Bland how remarkable it is to hold an executive at the very organization that helped save her life. “It’s come full circle,” she said, “I’m one of the lucky ones.”
Sentiments shared by the other strong front of the organization, Misty James, NLNL’s assistant director. For nearly 15 years, James battled an opiate addiction and spent five of those years unhoused. “I thought there was no way that I’m going to be able to find work and not use [substances],” she said, having felt exiled from society and invaluable to Bloomington. But when James sought help through NLNL, everything changed.
While rebuilding her life in recovery, she began volunteering with NLNL. Over time, that commitment led her to join the staff and eventually become a member of the organization’s board.
Now seven years sober, she uses her gratitude to motivate everyone who walks through NLNL’s doors. “Ultimately, all I want to do is help people,” she said, “I get to share with new participants how I came out on the other side.”
Success stories of NLNL
And help people they do, which Justin Booth and Jenny Rogers can attest to as successful participants at NLNL.
Booth — who recently celebrated his 33rd birthday — once struggled with addiction beginning at age 20. He still remembers the day he arrived at NLNL: fresh out of jail, wearing an orange jumpsuit and oversized shoes.
“I honestly felt like I looked like a clown that day,” he said. “But then I met Misty, and she gave me my first pair of new shoes and clothes,” that shifted something in Booth. “They made me feel like I belonged there. That was huge for me.”
Jenny Rogers’ journey followed a different rhythm but led to a similar struggle. She battled her addiction and faced repeated arrests for years, approaching recovery as an external fix while abandoning the internal work. “I would get the job, get the car, get the place — get all the stuff — but it would all fall apart,” she said. Rogers and Booth underwent a 180-degree turnaround after NLNL connected her with resources that helped her finally see herself.
Booth found his calling working as a house and case manager at Courage of Change, the same sober living facility where he once stayed. He connects others to New Leaf and New Life and uses his story to help people believe their lives are worth fighting for. “I have freedom,” he said, “I have my wife and 6-month-old son. I have a recovery family. I have everything I’ve wanted.”
Now, Rogers is enjoying her second year of sobriety with her children and grandchildren, while looking to her future. “I have done more in these last two years than I’ve done in my entire life,” she said. “My life achievement would be to make a positive difference in somebody else’s life. If I can do that, I will have truly succeeded.”
Booth and Rogers credit NLNL, specifically Bland and James with how their compassion helped give them the audacity to try one more time. “As long as [you’re] willing to put in the action, [Heather and Misty] are there every set of the way.”
How you can get involved
If you want to help participants find success through NLNL, you don’t have to be on staff to make an impact. Volunteers are essential to the organization’s mission — from supporting programming through donations to facilitating reentry classes at Monroe County Jail.
“[Volunteers and I] get to be inside the jail, talking and working with people directly,” said Payton Prospal. As NLNL’s Read to Me coordinator, Prospal helps incarcerated individuals stay connected with their children through recorded readings that families can listen to at home.
Prospal also helps facilitate reentry classes that equip incarcerated individuals with practical skills, resources, and encouragement before their release. “It’s so rewarding to see how happy, and how motivated the individuals are [for the future].”
Ultimately, at NLNL, nobody is turned away. The staff believes if they can change, anyone can do it. “I know so many people who’ve made it through,” said James, “we can do it together.”
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: New Leaf New Life helps people take first steps after incarceration
Reporting by Brittany Talissa King, Special to The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
