There are few scenes quite as serene and peaceful as an expanse of green grass, shaded by a stately oak tree. The bucolic imagery has the ability to calm and comfort, transporting people from their everyday struggles, if only for a few fleeting moments.

“Generation to generation, it all stems from me.”

The lament of Sheldon Johnson, Sr. is a familiar one for many families stuck in a cycle of crime and incarceration. A deaf child raised by parents who showed little interest in communicating with him, Johnson struggled with feelings of inadequacy and nonacceptance.

Zane Tankel knows what it means to have a second chance.

The now-75 year old remembers growing up in a tough neighborhood in Patterson, New Jersey. A self-described “tough guy,” Tankel regularly skipped school, learning to fight, steal, and intimidate. “I went away for a little while as a kid,” he admits.