Ra Chaka had two strikes against him before he even got up to bat. Orphaned at an early age and jostled through foster care, he entered the “corrections” system by the age of 10. By the age of 20, in 1976, he was facing a 20- to 60-year sentence for armed robbery. Seemingly defeated, his future prospects dashed, he reached bottom with “why me” resignation

Nate Sanders, 63, spent almost half of his life in prison for murder. One imagines the transition to the outside world would be daunting if not debilitating in such a case, and yet, less than one year after his release, it is as though he never left it. A devoted family man with plans to work well into his 70s, he approaches his new life with child-like curiosity and resolute optimism. By immediately throwing himself into the workforce and embracing his community without restraint, Sanders is the model illustration of how precious a second chance can be.

Mike Nolan blames no one but himself. He is forthright about how he went wrong as a teenager, seeking excitement and escape from his “boring” middle-class upbringing. Living on the edge gave him more than he bargained for, and he was convicted of murder at the age of 18 in 1974, and faced a 40- to 75-year sentence. He takes full responsibility for his mistakes

Johnny Outlaw was a prisoner at the Dixon Correctional Center in Dixon, Illinois, and also served time at Stateville several years before that. While at Dixon, he served on the board of the Prison Action Committee (PAC), the ex-prisoner organization that deals with recidivism issues