WORTHY:

Colorado Reentry Stories

Image: the yard at Limon Correctional Facility. Credit: CBS Mornings, in a piece covering our work. (View their coverage here.)

Listen to WORTHY: Colorado Reentry Stories here on our audio archive.

WORTHY: Colorado Reentry Stories is a series of audio features profiling Coloradans who found their way into prison and then navigated their way back out, and offering a look at some of the reentry service organizations that supported those people on their journey. 

Each episode is 30-40 minutes long, and each examines the complex pathways of reentry and parole in our state:

  • Story 1: Systems of Support, featuring lived experiences from Chanoa Maestas, Matt Bellomy, and Jamilyah Nelson, and highlighting the work of Remerg, the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Denver County's RISE Program, and Thrive Colorado

  • Story 2: Reentry & Realness, featuring lived experiences from JoyBelle Phelan, and highlighting the work of The Realness Project, Breakthrough, and Work Options

  • Story 3: Minding the Gaps, featuring lived experiences from Shannon Derzon, and highlighting the work of Project Elevate, Hazelbrook Sober Living Community, the Colorado Department of Public Safety's Division of Community Corrections, and the Colorado Department of Corrections Division of Adult Parole Transitional Services Unit / RESTORE Program.

  • Story 4: Never Going Back, featuring lived experiences from Tajuddin Ashaheed, Abron Arrington, Seth Ready, and JoyBelle Phelan... as well as co-hosts Cynthia Gonzalez, Tiffany McCoy, and Amber Pierce at Denver Women's Correctional Facility... and highlighting the work of the Second Chance Center.


Each episode of WORTHY: Colorado Reentry Stories is rooted in the stories of people who've succeeded against the odds. You'll hear about hitchhiking cross-country at the age of 13... losing a grandparent and falling into addiction... a surprise commutation from the governor that abruptly ended a life sentence... experiencing the anxieties of grocery shopping after leaving prison... a pivotal, impromptu speech on the state Capitol steps... and much more. WORTHY is only a beginning. There are many, many accounts of successful reentry yet to share.​

WORTHY has been recognized with the following awards:


This series was supported in part by the Solutions Journalism Network 2022 LEDE Fellowship. It was produced by Ryan Conarro, JoyBelle Phelan, and Seth Ready. Additional production by Lucy Richardson. Denver Women's Correctional Facility Inside Wire producers co-host Story 4: Cynthia Gonzalez, Tiffany McCoy, and Amber Pierce. Music for Worthy by Tyler Nelson at Limon Correctional Facility. The voices of the WORTHY theme are Jamilyah Nelson and, at Limon Correctional Facility, Stefano Illescas-Romo and Christopher Lovely. Mastering engineering by Jonathan Howard.