Meet Our 2023 Second Chance Award Recipient: Thomas

Arrested for attempted robbery at the age of 17, Thomas found himself on a bus on his way to Rikers Island—NewYork City’s dysfunctional and notoriously dangerous jail. A few hours earlier, Thomas and his friends had been drinking and roaming around the Lower East Side. A friend in the group decided that they should sneak up on people using the ATM of a bank nearby and steal their cash. Their plan was short lived, and they were quickly arrested.

Thomas was looking at a minimum sentence of four years at a time when 17-year-olds could still be tried as adults in New York---before Raise The Age. The grave consequences of his actions hit Thomas hard while he was detained, in general population with adults, for three weeks at Rikers Island. Sitting in a cell, Thomas was determined to get out and never return to jail.

Standing in front of the judge in June 2016, at his first court appearance post-arrest, he was given an opportunity that would change the course of his life: Thomas was given A Second Chance. He was mandated by the judge to Avenues for Justice (AFJ) for eight months of daily supervision. He would have to attend workshops at AFJ’s Lower East Side community center, call his Court Advocate for daily curfew, take monthly drug tests, and get assistance from an AFJ volunteer tutor for school. If he completed his mandate to the court’s satisfaction, Thomas could receive Youthful Offender (YO) status which would seal his record and he would avoid prison time.

Today, Thomas has ambitions to get his security license, to go along with his OSHA-30 certification, which he earned through AFJ’s in-house OSHA training and certification in April 2023. He hopes that by earning different certifications, it will open the doors to opportunities which he never thought would be possible just a few years ago. Eventually, he wants to be financially stable enough to have his own place. Thomas is an excellent role model and proves that second chances work in helping young people successfully maximize their potential.

Over the next few weeks we will share more of Thomas’ story and the great strides he has taken to successfully turn his life around. We hope that you will join us on October 26th at our Second Chance Gala as we celebrate Thomas and present him with the Second Chance Award.

‍