mission
G.E.M.S. mission is to help build our communities and structure the transition into society for formerly incarcerated youths.
about us
G.E.M.S.’s focus is to assist in furthering the mission of developing formerly incarcerated youths into successful leaders on a regional and national level.
G.E.M.S. recognizes that Leadership development is vital to the education and success of the formerly incarcerated youth communities because it sets the stage for strong leaders to achieve greater impact on their clients and it is a necessity for the entire community.
G.E.M.S. understands that to enhance the formerly incarcerated youth community and create economic independence, we need to invest in the youths’ leadership capacity.
G.E.M.S. administration is guided by volunteer members and professional volunteers who devote their time and work firmly to enhance G.E.M.S.’s business plan by envisioning the reshaping of the formerly incarcerated youth communities.
history
G.E.M.S. stands for Gaining Education Maintaining Success. We are a social benefit organization established in September of 2020. Our President Fredo Sanchez saw the need to establish an organization to serve the formerly incarcerated youths. Mr. Sanchez has first-hand knowledge of what it takes to reintegrate into society after incarceration. He is very much aware of the struggles that youths have when having to start from ground zero to make it in civil society. He also knows what it takes to become a successful person and the hard labor that he had to invest to make it this far.
Even though he had family support he still needed to navigate many external systems to get what he needed to be successful. He had to learn what social media platforms were about, he had to learn how to get a job not just a paying job but a good job, he needed to have initiative and motivation to get past the fact that when you have a juvenile record you are looked at differently and put under the microscope for everything you want to accomplish.
One element Mr. Sanchez had was the focus and a never giving up attitude. He had to start from the bottom and work his way up. Some days the struggles are light and other days the struggles are heavy, nevertheless, he doesn’t give up he came too far to just let it go. He had to work in all kinds of jobs, all kinds of programs, reporting to all sorts of individuals until he realized that everyone should not have to jump through all the hoops he did to get to where he is at building G.E.M.S.
Our President is passionate about the formerly incarcerated youths and is doing everything in his power to make sure that his struggles do not become their struggles. He believes that where he saw the gap he must fulfill that need.
Currently, Mr. Sanchez is an author and has published a non-fiction book with Manuscritos Publishing Entitled Father, I’m Coming Home and subtitled Prison Walls No Longer Hold Me Captive. In this book, you are going to find out about Mr. Sanchez as a teenager, a young adult, and finally a mature man with flaws but with a sincere focus on his future. You’re going to read about bad judgment in his decisions that took him to places where he had no business being, behaviors that he should not manifest, and reckless endangerment to him and those around him that led him to be incarcerated for fifteen years. But you will also find in this book hope, freedom, family, and faith that strengthen him to become the man that he is today.
We recommend this book to parents and professionals who work with teenagers and young adults who have difficulties adjusting to the norms of life, who feel challenged with nowhere to go or feel that no one loves them, or even navigating through systems that as teenagers are not able to follow or keep up at times.