Incarcerated for burglary and grand theft auto as a teenager, Rontorius Russaw, 23, struggled to trust people until he found a mentor through the nonprofit Redemption & Advancement Alliance.
"I just thought he was a person that was just trying to talk my head off, and I was like: 'Man, I don't want to hear that,' but as soon as I started trusting the process and started seeing the results, everything started to come to life for me," Russaw said.
The Redemption & Advancement Alliance is an Atlanta-based organization dedicated to helping people live productive lives outside of crime. Their deliberate process includes introspective counseling, employment and community service, and mentoring.
Russaw is the latest voice to be featured in the "Righting the Wrong" series, which focuses on people who committed crimes during their youth.