FreedomWorks refers residents to Twin Cities R!SE for career training and Personal Empowerment. It has also hired several R!SERs, including Program Manager Mark Hershberger, who completed the program himself in 2022.
Mark Hershberger knows the impact of Twin Cities R!SE because he has lived it.
In 2022, Mark was living at FreedomWorks and receiving treatment and housing support. During that time, FreedomWorks referred him to participate in career training at Twin Cities R!SE.
After completing the TCR program, Mark earned an internship at FreedomWorks. That opportunity eventually grew into his current role as program manager.
Today, Mark says he wears “all the hats.”
His work includes screening and placement, graduate housing support, treatment floor management, staff training, outreach, and recruiting.
He also helps other FreedomWorks residents connect with Twin Cities R!SE.
That connection is an important part of the partnership between the two organizations.
FreedomWorks provides treatment, housing, recovery support, accountability, and community for people rebuilding after incarceration, homelessness, addiction, and other major barriers.
When FreedomWorks residents are ready to focus on employment and their next steps, FreedomWorks can refer them to Twin Cities R!SE.
Those residents then come to TCR and participate in career training, Personal Empowerment, Emotional Intelligence, and other programming designed to help them prepare for meaningful employment.
Mark describes Twin Cities R!SE as “an access point for people to open up a different area of life.”
He has seen FreedomWorks residents begin the TCR program focused mainly on immediate needs, including how quickly they can begin earning money.
As they move through the training, their thinking begins to expand.
They start thinking about their résumés. They consider what type of work they want to pursue. They begin talking about their families, their long-term goals, and what they hope to come back and show others they have accomplished.
“The narrative spins completely around,” Mark said. “They’re not just worried about the money. They’re worried about the résumé. They’re worried about coming back and showing us what they’re doing.”
That shift is one of the reasons FreedomWorks continues referring residents to Twin Cities R!SE.
FreedomWorks is not only a community and referral partner. It is also an employer partner.
The organization has hired several people who completed TCR programming, including Mark. This gives FreedomWorks the opportunity to see how the skills R!SERs develop carry into the workplace.
Mark says Emotional Intelligence is especially valuable in a reentry and recovery environment.
Working with people who are rebuilding their lives requires patience, accountability, and empathy. Employees must be able to listen carefully, understand what someone may be communicating without saying it directly, and recognize that each person has different experiences and needs.
“The Emotional Intelligence piece gives people the opportunity to listen and really read the room,” Mark said.
“Working in this field, you need to understand that each person is an individual.”
Mark sees those skills affect more than how someone performs at work.
He has also seen R!SERs apply what they learn to parenting, relationships, communication, decision-making, and the way they respond during difficult situations.
The community built inside TCR is another important part of the experience.
Mark remembers how people in his own cohort entered the program feeling guarded, uncertain, angry, or ashamed. Over time, they began opening up and connecting with people they may not have expected to relate to.
They exchanged phone numbers. They built friendships. They encouraged one another and began recognizing that they were not moving forward alone.
“You can see people start believing not only in themselves, but in their community,” Mark said.
That sense of connection stayed with Mark after he graduated.
He still has phone numbers from people who completed the program alongside him. He has seen lasting relationships form and watched R!SERs become more open to people, ideas, and possibilities outside the lives they once felt trapped within.
Mark’s own journey shows what this partnership can make possible.
FreedomWorks supported him with treatment, housing, recovery, and community. FreedomWorks then referred him to Twin Cities R!SE, where he completed career training and Personal Empowerment.
After graduating from TCR, he returned to FreedomWorks as an intern, became an employee, and eventually stepped into leadership.
Today, he helps FreedomWorks residents access the same TCR programming that helped him prepare for what came next.
For FreedomWorks, the partnership creates a clear pathway.
Residents receive treatment, housing, and recovery support through FreedomWorks. When they are ready, they can participate in career training and Personal Empowerment through Twin Cities R!SE. Some R!SERs have then returned to FreedomWorks as employees, using what they learned to support others who are rebuilding.
Mark continues referring FreedomWorks residents to TCR because he trusts the program and has seen its impact from every side.
“If it did it for me,” he said, “then I believe it can get through to almost anyone who wants it.”