My name is Sean Graham. I’m the Community Reentry and Program Specialist for the Exoneree Network, a program of the New England Innocence Project (NEIP) that provides a safe community and support for exonerees and those who have suffered the traumas of long-term incarceration.
We take pride in being led by the experiences, perspectives, and voices of those directly impacted by the criminal legal system — people just like me. I was convicted as a juvenile and spent 18 years in prison. As a member of the very community I serve, I can relate to many of the feelings and experiences of our members.
I know first-hand how much power a court’s decision can have and how it impacts your real life and your future. I understand how your world suddenly changes when you learn of your release — to go from thinking “I’m never going home again” to “Wow, I’m getting an opportunity to live my life” in an instant. I know what regaining your freedom after so many years lost really feels like – this newfound ability to be whoever you want to be – to be yourself again, not just a prison number. But freedom comes with struggles, too.
And for me, regaining my freedom has meant that I now have the ability to help others with those struggles. Through my role at NEIP, I provide our community members with access to housing, psychological care, financial literacy, and technological training. I give people a chance to feel empowered again.
Will you join me in helping exonerees and freed people come home
and rebuild their lives?
Donate today and your gift will be matched, dollar-for-dollar,
up to $25,000 (through June 30).
For me, the most significant moments in my work may seem small at first, like when an exoneree calls me to tell me he got his driver’s license or when a newly freed person tells me how relieved they are to have a little cash in their pocket. Recently, we provided a NEIP client with immediate housing through our newly created “Freedom House” and I treasured his text message where he told me he is “finally starting to feel like a real human again.” That means everything.
I can tell you firsthand that the work of the New England Innocence Project literally changes lives. Supporting this work allows people who have suffered so much to create memorable moments like raising kids, holding their grandbabies, spending time with their family, mourning those they lost, and building a future. I am so proud to be a part of that. Will you be a part of it, too?
Most sincerely,
Sean Graham
Community Reentry & Program Specialist, Exoneree Network
New England Innocence Project