I arrived in Ottawa on day parole and began to settle into the halfway house.  I was lucky enough to be provided with a team of coaches/mentors, who had agreed to meet with me regularly for one year. I was very lucky; individuals who are willing to give up their personal time to assist offenders in the community are very special individuals who must be treasured by all those offenders that they support.

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I found it very difficult to find employment in Ottawa. It was frustrating, on one occasion I thought I was hired only to find out that I was running into an obstacle regarding my offence even though on three occasions I informed the interviewer I had a criminal record. It was Friday evening, and I wasn't sure if I was going to start work on Monday or not. I had to wait and see and go to the company on Monday for their final decision. I called one of my MAP ‘family' for his input, I received some ‘fatherly' advice that I wanted to hear, which reinforced many of my own thoughts. I relaxed and was willing to accept what Monday would bring. About an hour later I received another call from a second MAP ‘family' member who wondered how I was doing. I had two friends who were concerned enough to call, to listen, and to care.I continued to meet with my MAP team sixteen months after our initial meeting. - Client and graduate of MAP

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"It is a great program and hopefully it will continue to grow. It really helped me a lot. My group was awesome. I had two very special people who took time out of their busy schedules to meet with me on a weekly basis. They never judged me or what I did in the past. I always looked forward to our meetings and it was the highlight of my week!" - Client and graduate of MAP