Do what you know Simmons founded Why Not Prosper to help women like herself, by providing newly released inmates with housing, drug and alcohol dependency treatment, drug and alcohol treatment specically for former prostitutes, job readiness and life skill building programs, to name a few of its services. She knows what clients need because she has lived their stories. “I’ve been through it all, through all the times -- some good, some bad, some ugly,” she says, “but with my faith in God I’ve grown beyond my wildest dreams.” She knows rsthand the eort and support required to transform a life from the bottom up -- she spent six years cycling in and out of the California penal system, unable to meet the parole board’s requirements to remain free.
“Every time I got released I’d keep going back to the dope man and getting high, and just continuing the cycle,” she says. She wanted to return to Philadelphia, but the courts wanted a year clean rst. She nally gave it to them in 2001, when she left jail for a sober living facility in Los Angeles. She returned to Philly with complete faith in God and the condence of someone who has been through the worst of times. A life transformed through modesty
“Even when I was using and getting in trouble I knew that if I ever got clean, I would be a force to be reckoned with, ” she says. “Seventeen years ago I just wanted to be clean and get my kids back.” Now, with seventeen years of sobriety, she sees her two daughters, ages 21 and 24, every day. “Just go for your dreams,” she says. “Trust in the Lord, trust in the god of your understanding, and you can do anything.”
“I knew that if I ever got clean, I would be a force to be reckoned with.” - Rev. Michelle Simmons, founder and CEO
When she left her cell for the last time, she didn’t expect to be ocially pardoned by the state of California. She didn’t expect to start up an award-winning program that changes lives. She didn’t expect to be a three-time author, or earn doctorate degrees in ministry and theology. She knew she had potential, but didn’t realize the extent.
9
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker