CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A woman in Castle Rock is helping people transition from incarceration to life after prison, after learning how difficult the change can be firsthand.
After spending five years at the Denver Women's Correctional Institution, Kalena Rodriguez she created the program K Project Freedom. She and her team go into prisons to offer support in the form of fitness training, career readiness, and creating wellness plans for prisoners.
“It's designed to start on a fitness aspect — powerlifting, strong man, strong woman competition type workouts,” said Rodriguez. “We build those bonds, and we build the trust, and we start to get to know the individual.”
Connecting with prisoners as humans is important. It can be hard to gain someone’s trust, and many of those incarcerated have only heard negative stories about what can happen after they are released. Setting an example of how to carry oneself as early as possible is critical.
“Reentry starts the day you go to prison, not the day you leave. The way you walk in prison is the way that you're going to walk out here,” said Rodriguez. “I was released from prison, and I realized that there was a huge gap. I wanted to be able to have other individuals inside see the success that people could have out here because they only heard the negative.”
One of the people who went through the K Project Freedom program while in prison is Chrystie Hardy, an assistant and receptionist for Rodriguez. They met on Rodriguez’s first day in prison, in the middle of Hardy’s 17-year incarceration.
“I was actually there since day one," said Hardy. “I was in the facility with Kalena at Denver Women's, and when she came back in, it was amazing to see her glowing and being successful.”
Rodriguez hired Hardy after she was released last June.
Rodriguez's newest program is Built to Recover, which helps people after they leave the prison system. It offers support for mental health, substance use disorders, peer support, fitness, and life skills like education and career assistance. The Castle Rock facility gives breakfast to anyone who happens to be going there for help that day, a closet for people who might need an article of clothing or two, and licensed counselors and social workers.
“Built to Recover is for individuals impacted by life,” said Rodriguez. “We all recover from something, whether you stub your toe on the chair, or you have back surgery or substance use. We all recover in different ways. It’s built to help individuals have the structure to withstand the elements of life.”
For Hardy, she’s grateful she gets to give back to the program that gave her so much.
“I've learned to ask for help when I need it, when I'm down,” said Hardy. “I've learned to reach out, because I didn't do that. I wouldn't voice myself. I wouldn't express my emotions or anything. I would just be quiet. To realize I actually have a voice, and that it matters, and that I actually matter to people… Without them, I think I would be right back in prison because that’s my safe space. That’s my normal. That’s all I’ve known.”
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