LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new program is giving veterans in jail a second chance.
Louisville Metro Corrections is currently housing around 25 U.S. military veterans at the jail in downtown Louisville.
On Monday, the jail launched a program created to help veterans avoid some of the mistakes that led to their incarceration.
"Five minutes of bad thinking and bad actions, landed me here," Phillip Jackson, a man housed at Louisville Metro Correction, said. "I have a burglary first-degree charge."
Phillip Jackson, a U.S. military veteran.
For the first time in a long time, Jackson says he is optimistic about the future.
"You've bene praying and praying and praying and finally, you feel like one of those prayers get answered," Jackson said.
Jackson's prayers are being answered in the form of Operation V.A.L.O.R. It stands for Veterans Aspiring For Life of Reform.
On Monday, Jerry Collins, head of Metro Corrections, and Mayor Greg Fischer held a ribbon cutting on a unit that will house veterans in the program.
"We want this to look different, we want it to feel different," Collins said.
From the barrack-style cell to the paintings on the wall representing branches of the military, the space already look different. Collins said the biggest difference will happen with programs created to help veterans transition back to society.
"From treatment and mental health to re-entry to job placement, everybody's coming from a different spot," Collins said. "We're going to try to meet them in that spot, and get them back out and be successful in the community."
Collins is a U.S. military veteran himself.
"He creates any way we can to connect with our prisoners here in a more meaningful way to get them out of here in a way that's a warm handoff to the community," Fischer said.
Goodwill Industries of Kentucky is helping to facilitate the transition with jobs and training.
"We're a second chance organization," Tom Saylor with Goodwill Industries of Kentucky said. "We are committed at Goodwill to meeting them where they're at and helping them where they're trying to go."
Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, Veteran's Club, Veteran's Administration and Wellpath are partnering with the program.
Operation V.A.L.O.R. can help with veterans mental and health issues.
"There's a lot of different issues going back and forth with drug use and mental health issues that I have," Jackson said. "I have been in here seven months and I haven't been happy. Right now, I'm happy."
The new unit has nine inmates, but the goal is to increase that number to 20 in the next few weeks.
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