Select Page

Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find a list of commonly asked questions and general information about the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. If your question is not answered in these FAQs, you can submit a specific question to the PEP Family Team. 

General Questions

What services does PEP offer for my loved one?

In addition to character development, leadership training and business education inside of prison, PEP offers full reentry services to every graduate that includes:

  • Prison Release Pickup
  • First Meal (after prison)
  • Transition Housing
  • Transportation Assistance
  • Obtaining Identifications for Employment
  • Work Clothes and Basic Tools
  • Emergency Groceries
  • Eye Exam & Spectacles
  • Weekly Reentry Life Skills Training

What can I do to help my loved one with the parole process

The most important thing you can do to assist your loved one is to provide support letters recognizing the transformation that has taken place in their lives and giving the parole board a clear picture of the level of support that will be provided to your loved one upon their release.

Below are resources to help you with the parole letter process:

 

Where can I register for the PEP Graduation?

Family members that have been selected by their loved ones to attend graduation will receive information directly from the Family Team. 

About PEP

Our Mission

The Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) unites incarcerated men and business executive volunteers through entrepreneurial passion and servant leadership to transform lives, restore families and rebuild communities.

What is PEP?
Leadership Academy

PEP participants begin the program and their journey with a 3-month, in-prison character development program, known as The Leadership Academy. The Leadership Academy utilizes The Principles of Effective Leadership and Men’s Life (also known as Men’s Fraternity: The Quest for Authentic Manhood).

All participants are expected to “live out” PEP’s Ten Driving Values: Integrity, Accountability, Wise Stewardship, Love, Fun, Fresh Start Outlook, Servant-Leader Mentality, Innovation, Execution, and Excellence. We work with each client to identify and remove the character traits and behaviors that stand in the way of a positive life transformation.

The program is also designed to assimilate each participant into PEP’s diverse community of accountability and encouragement, one that begins in prison and continues following their release.

Business Education

The Leadership Academy is immediately followed by a 6-month in-prison “mini-MBA” program. The “mini-MBA” is the core of our in-prison business education, taught by PEP staff, board members, and business executives lecturing on topics within their areas of expertise.

We use a college textbook Entrepreneurship: A Small Business Approach that is supplemented with Harvard and Stanford Business School case studies. The centerpiece of this phase is the Business Plan Competition (BPC), modeled after BPCs held at major universities across the nation.

Each student is required to conceive a business that he would start upon release. The student will research the logistics of competing within his chosen industry, write a complete business plan for launching his business and then pitch his plan over 120 times in a “Shark Tank” like format (including groups of PEP business executive volunteers).

Last but not least, during this in-prison program, all participants must complete a financial literacy course, an employment workshop, a business etiquette course, and a Toastmasters class.

As you can see, much is given to help our men transform, but much is expected from them in return.

Reentry Services

PEP Transition Coordinators pick up participants at the release gate the minute they are released from prison.  Approximately 65% of PEP graduates choose to live in one of five transition homes managed by PEP in Houston and Dallas.

Each PEP transition home enforces a zero-tolerance policy regarding drug and alcohol use and is managed by a PEP Transition Coordinator or PEP graduate.

In addition to transition housing, PEP provides extensive post-release services to its men, including transportation (to parole and food stamp offices, churches, drivers’ license offices, and job interviews), regular counseling and advice, a support network, social events and emergency financial assistance.  Moreover, participants have access to bus passes, phone cards, reduced-cost dental services, medical services and eye exams/glasses through partnerships with other service providers.

The goal is to provide participants with a comprehensive solution to re-entry in a structured environment of accountability. Once they are released from prison, these men are left with no excuse to return to a life of crime.

Our 10 Driving Values

All participants are expected to “live out” PEP’s Ten Driving Values: Integrity, Accountability, Wise Stewardship, Love, Fun, Fresh Start Outlook, Servant-Leader Mentality, Innovation, Execution, and Excellence. We work with each client to identify and remove the character traits and behaviors that stand in the way of a positive life transformation.

Click here to learn more about PEP’s Ten Driving Values

Have a Different Question?

Contact Us