The Anti-Recidivism Coalition is a leading justice reform organization based in Los Angeles and we are proud of our work to empower formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive. To ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole, we provide a support network which includes formerly incarcerated people, comprehensive reentry services, inside programming for those who are currently incarcerated, and opportunities to advocate for policy change. We were honored to partner with LA2050 on our project which is designed to give formerly incarcerated youth access to creative industry employment in music and film. This opportunity addresses the significant income inequality that our participants experience and tailor career opportunities to their interests. We are excited to be able to hire one such young person as Creative Fellow to support these efforts and ensure proper implementation of the rest of the grant. Read on to learn more about our LA2050-funded fellow who will be helping to spearhead this project!

Joseph at ARC’s Annual Member Retreat (left) and using his prized possession, his camera

“My name is Joseph Jimenez, my pronouns are He/Him/His, and I am 23 years old. I am an aspiring videographer based out of Los Angeles, California and I enjoy creating videos that inspire people and also shed light to the everyday. I like to consider myself an artist of life!

I was 17 years old when I was first sentenced and was incarcerated for nearly five years, first in Los Angeles Probation juvenile facilities and then in state Division of Juvenile Justice facilities. I first learned about the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) when I saw Scott Budnick, ARC’s founder, walking around Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall. People would point at him and say, “that dude is famous and likes to help people out.” That same year, in 2018, I met Sam Lewis, ARC’s Executive Director, also in Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall. He would come inside every week with Famous Amos cookies to talk with us and mentor us. At the time, I only wanted the cookies and never thought about becoming an ARC Member, but I still listened to everything he had to say.

I originally did not become a Member of ARC when I was released from incarceration. I got out and went back to repeating the same cycle that got me into jail in the first place. I was not in a good place in my life and was starting to realize I didn’t want to live like this, but I lacked the support and the strength to change overnight. Then my best friend from childhood passed away, and that gave me the courage to change my life. I reached out to Scott at ARC for an opportunity to live a different life, and that was the day my life changed forever.

ARC has helped me in many ways. They put me on the path of attending West Los Angeles Community College and to pursue a career in the Camera Department. They allowed me to realize my potential by attending school and conquering other hurdles I initially thought impossible to overcome. ARC secured me housing through their  Transitional Housing Program called Magnolia, where I lived with other transitional-aged-youth returning home. During this time, I attended school and transitioned into living a sober and positive lifestyle. ARC’s housing helped me to have somewhere to live and thrive – not only survive. ARC also provided me with the opportunity to intern at DreamWorks Animation, where I worked on The Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight TV series. I worked at DreamWorks for two semesters and learned so much about animation and the production process. This ARC Creatives Fellowship position has been the biggest opportunity to use my creative talents.

I believe that I have always been a Creative ARC Fellow! Art and creativity are some of the most important aspects of my life because creativity is everywhere we go all the time. I believe everyone is an artist of life: we are all individuals, and to be individuals we must be creative. I believe the way people do small things like tying their shoes is creative, because we all do things differently. These differences make us diverse and allow people an outlet for us to communicate our individualities to others.

Since I was young, I have dreamt of being a movie director. I used to write movie scripts when I was incarcerated but was very shy about it because I never thought it was an achievable dream, more of a fantasy. When meeting with Scott and talking about the entertainment trades program at West LA, I was naturally interested in the opportunity to study with the camera department. I then started to go to school and learned about film production and camera work. These classes inspired me to start recording videos and pushed me to save up money to buy a camera while I was living at Magnolia. The rest is history.

I like videography because I can tell a story and I am able to show what I want on the screen. I enjoy being creative and being in control of what I am shooting. When I am recording, it is my world, and I am in charge of what fits on my screen. I believe it is important for formerly incarcerated people to have creative outlets because we have stories to tell. Whether these stories are sad, angry, happy, confused, or funny, I believe a creative outlet to tell those stories is beneficial for the people coming home and also for sharing life stories that don’t usually make it on the big screen.

I am excited to be ARC’s first Creatives Fellow because I have A LOT of creative ideas I want to share and bring to life. I am excited to be in a position where I can share those creative ideas with the wonderful community of ARC. I am excited to pave the way for the next Creative Fellows to follow. One main goal I have for myself is to support the existing creative groups and help in any way I can. I also want to start new creative endeavors that are based on different ARC members' ideas or thoughts. I want to help other Members bring their creative ideas to life and to help them share their stories!”

One of the LA2050 project components that Joseph is supporting is ARC’s Music Group to further young members’ opportunities for creative expression and career advancement. In this group, formerly incarcerated members who have successful music careers mentor and educate younger members both on Zoom and in-person at the Magnolia House music studio, which is also supported by this LA2050 project. Since ARC was awarded the LA2050 grant, nearly 50 members have attended the Music Group and our music mentors have already assisted over 50 percent of our Magnolia House residents in creating and recording their own original songs. One mentor adds that “I was encouraged to see the guys take an interest in learning how to engineer their own recordings and work together. It’s always a good sign to be able to be hands off as an instructor and watch the participants take control.”

One challenge we have faced in implementing this project is that many of the young people we serve have different schedules, so it can be challenging to reach everyone at once. With the new addition of Joseph to the team, we will have more capacity to coordinate meeting times that work for everyone and also conduct more one-on-ones with youth to meet everyone’s needs. Going forward we are excited to continue to strengthen participants’ skills so that they can start pursuing more creative employment opportunities, including performing and distributing their music. We are also gearing up to launch the second iteration of an innovative partnership with Jail Guitar Door’s Community Arts Programming and Outreach (CAPO) Center which will provide additional arts based mentorship, training, and employment opportunities!

We are looking forward to continuing this project and receiving feedback on its success from our participants, and we’re even more excited to see the progress youth participants have made in their creative endeavors, such as producing songs and short films, performing, and gaining employment in their dream industry. This grant is supporting young peoples’ ability to learn, create, and pursue creative industry employment in Los Angeles. This work could not be done without partners like LA2050 / the Goldhirsh Foundation, and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.

To learn more about ARC, visit our website, Instagram (@antirecidivismcoalition), Twitter, (@AntiRecidivism), or Facebook.