Savannah Ford turned 30 years old in jail.
The milestone landed harder than she expected. Looking back at her life, she felt as though the only things she had to show for those years were addiction and felony drug charges.
She did not yet know what rebuilding would look like.
After her release, Savannah entered the residential reentry program operated by FOCUS Women’s Ministry. She had not participated in the organization’s jail classes because FOCUS was not serving the facility where she had been incarcerated. But the ministry still gave her a place in its transitional home—and an opportunity to begin building a life beyond the one she had known
Today, Savannah works for FOCUS.
In this Season 5 episode of The Redemption Project, Brandon Burley speaks with Savannah about the ministry’s work with incarcerated and newly released women throughout East Tennessee.
FOCUS operates what it calls its Behind the Walls and Beyond the Walls programs. Volunteers lead Bible studies, cognitive-behavioral classes and personal-development programs inside county jails and state prisons. The organization currently serves women in Knox, Anderson, Bledsoe, Sullivan, Scott and Blount counties.
The work continues after release.
FOCUS operates a 12-bed women’s home in Knoxville, where residents participate in a structured nine- to 12-month reentry program. Case managers help women obtain identification documents, apply for benefits, prepare for employment, secure clothing and hygiene supplies and begin learning how to navigate responsibilities that can feel overwhelming after incarceration.
But Savannah says the work cannot stop at employment, rent and drug testing.
Many of the women entering the program have experienced significant childhood trauma, addiction, abusive relationships and years of believing that pain is all they deserve. Savannah describes trauma as the gateway that often precedes substance use and incarceration.
That is why FOCUS attempts to serve the whole person.
The ministry provides practical assistance, accountability, relationships and faith-based support. Its goal is not merely to help women avoid another arrest. It is to help them understand their worth, develop healthier patterns and build lives in which they can contribute to their families and communities.
FOCUS may technically meet the definition of a halfway house.
Its work is intended to go much further.
I am a retired detective and criminal justice / government educator based in Tennessee. I am a commentary write for Tennessee Lookout and a weekly columnist with Knox TN Today. My work examines public policy, public safety systems and civic responsibility. My reporting and commentary have also appeared in Governing, The Arizona Capitol Times, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Police1, among other state and regional outlets.
