FORMER FELON’S NONPROFIT EXPANDS TO GRAND FORKS; ASSISTS FORMERLY INCARCERATED
Less than two years since opening F5’s first house for individuals returning to the community following incarceration, the organization’s founder has opened another house, designed to serve Grand Forks residents. This is the F5 Project’s ninth housing resource and its first for Grand Forks. F5 Project also provides housing and other transitional support services for residents in Fargo, Moorhead, Bismarck, and Devils Lake.
“In a very short time, we’ve been tremendously fortunate to have the support of several communities in both North Dakota and Minnesota,” F5 Founder Adam Martin said. “We saw an opportunity to serve more residents in Grand Forks and wanted to expand our services here.”
The 6 bedroom house offers affordable rent, peer coaching and assistance for other resources such as job hunting, addiction recovery, resume building and transportation. Serving more than 100 people since the F5 Project’s inception, Martin hopes to continue to expand services throughout North Dakota and Minnesota. He also plans to open houses and programs designated specifically for women who have been formerly incarcerated. In addition, he and his team continue to host regular meetings and support-group discussions at area detention centers.
“One of the aspects of our program that I am particularly proud of is more than 80% of our residents have avoided recidivism. A few of them have even started their own businesses,” Martin said. “I think this demonstrates what can happen when a community supports individuals who are truly motivated to turn their lives around.”
Named after the F5 “reset” button on a personal computer, the F5 Project helps all of us discover the power behind a “refresh.” Martin founded F5 in April 2016 after observing several gaps in service for individuals who were motivated to make a positive change following incarceration. The five-time felon turned entrepreneur, developed the F5 Project to provide key resources such as affordable housing, transportation, addiction recovery services, peer mentoring and job search tools. After serving time himself and seeing limited resources for those recently released from prison, Martin believed providing support immediately following incarceration would not only positively impact former offenders, but their families and communities. Not afraid to prove the impossible – possible, Martin views the world from a progressive lens. “From being homeless and not knowing when I was going to eat next, to helping enterprise-level customers make strategic technology decisions every day, that’s part of the impossible,” Martin says. “Through F5, it’s been rewarding to help individuals do the same, as well as change the perception for all of us who want to better our lives and our communities.”
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