A journey of transformation.
Life from the Heart was born in 2021- an innovative pivot from our typical community Jobs for Life classes which were put on prolonged pause by the COVID restrictions of 2020. With our volunteers on lock down and community training sites closing, we found an open door to serve in the jails which ultimately became this new initiative known as Life from the Heart.
This 12-week "prequel" course is a faith-based journey that explores:
- Relationships
- Values
- Understanding change
- Maturity
- Healthy families
- Recovery and relapse (for our population that has struggled with substance abuse)
- Soft skills
- Interview techniques (including mock interviews)
- Budgeting
LFTH allows inmates with release dates approaching an opportunity to prepare their hearts and minds for release from jail and entry into the job market. The curriculum draws from the book “Growing Through Brokenness,” and is complementary to the Jobs for Life program.
Graduation is just the beginning.
Our graduations include the graduate march, cap and gown, special meal and certificates where each graduate is affirmed and recognized. The next step is the critical one: “What do I do, where do I go, after I am released?” LFTH seeks to develop long term relationships with our graduates and to give them the best possible hope for not becoming a statistic of recidivism.
We accomplish this through many ways, all of which include community and relationship. Heart for Winter Haven has made relationship building one of our core values. Our care managers, and counselors at The Center for Well-Being, provide excellent, people-driven resources.
Jobs for Life, Faith & Finances, one-on-one or family counseling, and our weekly dinners at The Heart Place all provide ways for our graduates to stay connected and continue to flourish.
If you are interested in becoming a Polk County Sheriff's Office jail volunteer, please contact Jim Adkins at jim@heart4wh.org or (863) 258-5592.
