Lashonia tries on donated work attire. Although many ex-offenders have difficulty finding jobs, Lashonia was able to find full-time work quickly. “Not that I am perfect, I am still a work in progress, but when I look at the person I used to be, that change process is something I was very successful at. Where I am now and where I came from it’s like a complete 180.”

Lashonia says of her past life, “I was one of the worst people you would ever meet." I was negative, miserable, stressed out, angry, violent, destructive, I was just a total mess. I was impoverished mentally, financially and spiritually.”

Since her release, Lashonia has not stopped moving. She had to participate in a number of evaluation and assessment programs, and she was required to complete drug addiction and rehabilitation programs despite being drug-free for many years. She also started college and obtained a full time job, while attempting to rebuild her personal and family life. At times, this non-stop schedule can be exhausting.

For many returning citizens, the basic tasks that face them upon release -- getting housing, a job, and an education -- become overwhelming obstacles. However, Lashawna's successful reentry has made her a role model for other ex-offenders. In fact, the D.C. Office on Returning Citizens recently gave her a public award for her success in finding housing, continuing her college education, and obtaining employment.

While visiting her mother's house, Lashonia finds a photograph of herself from before her incarceration. “I was one of the worst people you would probably ever meet,” says Lashonia of her life when she was nineteen.

Following her release, Lashonia moved to transitional housing for formerly incarcerated women. This photograph portrays her room in the transitional housing facility on the day of her move to a more independent housing situation.

Here, Lashawna is pictured outside of the transitional home for formerly incarcerated women that she lived in for several months after her release.

Lashonia’s photograph on her prison identification card faded after many years of use. Lashonia was an exemplary prisoner and was granted parole after her first hearing as a result of her exceptionally good behavior.

“A large part of me does not feel like I deserve a second chance,” says Lashonia. “It’s not necessarily about what I deserve because there are many people who have done lesser things than I have who did not get a second chance. I believe the creator knows that in my heart I am truly, truly remorseful for what I have done, and he has a plan for my life.”

Lashonia’s children were 10 months and 3 years old when she went to prison. They are now 20 and 22. “I think those relationships are severely damaged," Lashonia says, as she goes to visit her son.

Lashonia’s father and brother died while she was in prison, and she was unable to attend their funerals. Here, she travels to Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, DC, to visit their graves for the first time after her release.

"I don't blame my environment, but my circumstances, the people I chose to associate with, all the choices I made, shaped my character and caused me to become a horrible person," Lashonia explains.

Lashonia’s successful reentry has made her a role model for other ex-offenders. She quickly obtained housing, found a full time job at the District of Columbia’s Office of Returning Citizens Affairs, and continued her college education.

“It’s unfortunate that I could not uproot myself or remove myself [from my neighborhood] at the time,” Lashonia says. “I did not understand that that was even possible, but after being uprooted and being presented with different opportunities, being taught different values, and building my character, I became who I am, who I was always meant to be.”