Within our local communities, I believe everyone can make a positive impact on those who have been marginalized. The marginalized are those who are facing social exclusion due to forms of abuse or violence, victims of human trafficking, or who grew up in an environment that didn’t foster educational development. Socially, many of these survivors have little to no voice and find themselves not having much of a support system either. Our outreach focus is on those who have been or are currently incarcerated here in the state of Oklahoma. All of which are looking for a second chance and a new lease on life. Unfortunately, the majority of the men and women who get this second chance go right back into the same environment they came out of. The result, they end up facing the same influences or distractions that aided in their incarceration in the first place.

While overseeing our church’s prison ministry for nearly 5 years, I had the privilege of leading our volunteer teams into Dick Conner and Dr. Eddie Warrior correctional facilities. Here, we would minister to the men and women who adopted us as their church family. While getting to know many of these individuals, it became clear that for many of these inmates, who are full of remorse and regret, were only doing what they knew in order to survive. That doesn’t give them a pass on the crime, it just means there is an opportunity to show them another way!

I recently asked our chaplains, who oversee the volunteer services and community support, about the biggest needs for individual re-entry success. They conveyed that the biggest challenge towards success is that the majority who parole, leave without a clear purpose for their life and have no understanding of their gifts and unique design.

At that moment, I knew in my heart what needed to happen and why we should invest in this program. For me, the biggest impact on my life was having mentors coach me through a process of discovery. One that also yielded healing in areas that I didn’t realize I needed to address, or was unwilling to unpack and walk through. The sheer freedom that awaited me on the other side, was something I deeply desired for these men and women. The majority also crave the same desire for freedom and purpose, they just need the tools to create that path and mentors to walk alongside to guide and encourage. Our solution is taking them through a 10-week program called Your One Degree. The results have been and continue to be remarkable and life-changing!

- Mike Shields, Founder of Shields Consulting