AARP Purpose Prize winner Jon Eldan left a career in corporate law to create After Innocence, a nonprofit that supports those wrongfully incarcerated rebuild their lives after their release.

Here, Founder and Executive Director Eldan, 54, shares the challenges and successes to ensure exonerees are fully reintegrated into society. 

Were there any specific challenges you faced when shifting from corporate law to launching a nonprofit like After Innocence?

We are on a mission to reach every exoneree in the country with consistent, reliable reentry support in key areas like getting and using healthcare, making the most of the social services and legal help available in their communities, and free financial counseling.

The biggest challenges have been in developing the expertise to do that for a large number of clients spread across the country, who have a wide variety of needs, and raising the money to do that work. We rise to those challenges every day!

How does After Innocence ensure long-term sustainability and funding for its programs?

We start with an extremely efficient model: no offices, extremely low overhead, and a highly skilled team that’s specialized in meeting the reentry needs of exonerees. So nearly every dollar goes to paying our small staff to work directly with our clients.

To serve the increasing number of new exonerees every year, and to expand the range of services we provide, we’re spreading the word about our work, and looking for more people who want to donate and join us in helping people rebuild their lives after wrongful incarceration.

Are there particular states or regions where exonerees face more difficulties in accessing post-release support? How does After Innocence address these disparities?

There are states and counties where social services and public benefits are particularly lacking. For example, 40 states provide free comprehensive healthcare to people with low incomes; the other 10 states provide nothing. 

We meet our clients “wherever they are,” and that includes trying to address any issues that arise from a lack of resources/supports in the place they live. But in general, the support we provide is helpful to clients everywhere. For example, just about all of our clients really appreciate having a skilled advocate they can call for help navigating the healthcare system. 

Is there a location in particular need of help?

Cook County Illinois – Chicago – has by far more exonerees than any other county in the nation. We are currently developing some site-local partnerships to better meet the needs of our many clients there. Most recently, we coordinated a project that is providing 30 Cook County clients with all the dental care they need – more than $275,000 in donated work.

Does After Innocence assist exonerees with registering to vote? Do you know of any voting for the first time this election cycle?

 We assist clients with restoring rights after wrongful conviction, including voting rights. Nearly all our clients lost the right to vote while in prison, and became eligible to vote once released (although in several states, some will need to follow a process to restore voting rights). But we’ve seen a lot of confusion about voting after incarceration, so people might be unaware that they are eligible, or worried about trying to vote while ineligible.

This election cycle we will have more than 100 clients voting for the first time in a presidential election in many years, and for some, the first time ever.

How does After Innocence measure its effectiveness?

We measure impact by the numbers: how many clients we assisted with getting access to healthcare coverage, seeing primary care doctors, obtaining necessary follow-up care; the dollar value of free dental services we coordinated; how many missing stimulus payments we tracked down; how many clients completed our financial planning project, created wills and medical directives.

We also measure our impact by what clients tell us: Through ongoing feedback – often they tell us that if not for our support, they would not have received the help they urgently needed. We also use formal, anonymous client satisfaction surveys to learn how we might improve and what additional services clients want us to provide. In those surveys, nearly all say they are highly likely to recommend After Innocence to another exoneree.

What are some of the key legislative reforms or bills you all have been able to influence since the organization’s inception?

This year we worked closely with Senator Kyra Hoffner on all aspects of Delaware’s Wrongful Conviction Compensation and Services Act, which passed with unanimous legislative support, and can serve as a model for reforms in other states. We also drafted sections of bills that ran in six states last year, with several still pending. 

What does Aging with Attitude mean to you? 

I see my age as an advantage in doing this work. I’m 54, which puts me right in the middle of the age range for our clients, and I have plenty of energy for the work ahead and a lot of experience to draw from in doing it. And I’m starting to get used to needing reading glasses.

If you would like to volunteer your services to After Innocence, apply here. 

Photo credit: AARP

NaBeela Washington, an emerging Black writer, holds a Master’s in Creative Writing and English from Southern New Hampshire University and Bachelor’s in Visual Advertising from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has been published in Eater, The Cincinnati Review, and others. Learn more at nabeelawashington.com.