Michelle Mathis

I've been in my current field for about a year and a half, working as a housing case manager for a non-profit organization called Miracle Fund. We help ex-offenders get funding for housing through an income-based program. We usually get referrals from parole, gather information on them, and help fund them so they can stand alone on their own two feet by the time the program's done, which usually lasts a year for most people. Along with case management, I help them with other resources like employment, housing, and going back to school, whatever they want to do. I'm also a mentor through the same program, where people are usually referred to me by their parole agents. I'm more like a guidance counselor, helping them find direction and fulfill their goals. They choose their goals in the beginning, what their goal is short-term and what their goal is long-term, and we attain them in order. This opportunity kind of fell into my lap when I met new people who were connected to other things. I was incarcerated for 5 years around 2002, and helping people who were in a place that I was in the past is very fulfilling. The owner of Miracle Fund was also incarcerated years ago and came home and started a business to help people who are also incarcerated, so I kind of follow her footsteps. I have my bachelor's degree in marketing and I'm currently getting my master's in innovation and Entrepreneurship, graduating in July of this year. I'm a single mother with a son who is in his twenties, and the older he got, I wanted to lead by example, so I went back to college. I started a small business, and the marketing will actually help me help individuals or help small businesses create synergy. I definitely want to take a bigger leadership role, whether it's starting my own business in the field that I'm in, or using that with marketing to create something where I can help a lot of people versus a small amount of people.