Meet Bentley.
As a young man, Bentley struggled with finding a job, making ends meet, and got caught up selling drugs. He found himself in the midst of a shoot out and ended up being arrested for attempted murder. Due to his prior record and previous jail time served, the judge sentenced him to a full sentence of 22 years. For the first 6 months of his 22 year sentence, Bentley said, “All I did was eat, work out, and go back to sleep. Til I started hitting those programs and getting an idea of what I wanted to do. I came up with a plan. I saw hope. I didn’t have to stay on that level, in and out of jail. There were people who could help me.”
Bentley took advantage of everything he could to better his life in prison, barely having contact with the outside world. He was able to spend the majority of his sentence developing himself and learning skills that would help him once he was released. In 2016, after 22 years, he was finally released from prison and immediately began readjusting to life. He ended up working with a local recruiter to find any job that would work with his felony, never losing hope and always persevering. A few years later he suffered a massive heart attack which led to open heart surgery, but he had to say, “I don’t give up. I’m still trying. These things don’t define me. There is success after trying. I just can’t give up.”
Bentley leaned on the people who offered help, including the recruiter who never stopped believing in him. This built his self esteem and a drive to succeed. He now shares his story with others so they can know hope and not be defined by their past. He said, “When people push you to succeed, but don’t believe in you, that is for their own personal gain. But when people push you and believe in you… That’s for you. That’s beautiful. That’s for me.”