Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andre Apparicio. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Andre Apparicio and I am a formerly incarcerated individual who is a proud Fiancé, Father, Community Advocate and Re-entry specialist. I am passionate about my community and helping solving the problems that impact them most. After 3 years and prison and 5 years parole and being home over a decade, I can honestly say I am grateful for the impact I’ve had on so many others and how so many others have impacted me. As a natural provider I wanted to provide for myself and getting a job with a felony on parole took me over two years to do. I went from not being able to get a job to recently resigning as the Program Manager for the Office of Second Chance Employment, which helped get justice involved individuals jobs at the airport that didn’t require extensive background checks or that had past the threshold at background checks. I went from no one really listening about my ideas of reentry to sitting as the chairman for the a criminal justice committee for an Assemblymen in NY before I stepped down. From being homeless while on parole to now being a homeowner with an investment property. These things although im very proud of im proud of the face that I’ve helped support thousands more. Taught workshops to both those interested in supporting those reentering back into society to the actual individuals that have returned home. My Product is Hope, my services are realistic conversations and ways we can achieve the things we have some hope for. I’m a life long learner and that has made me a teacher. It’s always about community because in the word Community is the word UNITY. I’ve spoke across the world sharing my story and offering my time, energy, money, resources to help others achieve their goals. As a first time author of my book My Emancipation from Incarceration Reform, Relearn, Reentry, I try to the best of my ability to help individuals of all walks of life, not just those incarcerated to no matter there circumstance, create their own discharge plan from the stage they are in to move on to the next one.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I remember I was in my parole mandated program and my counselor who was a justice involved individual said that I would be great as a counselor in the field. After a few more conversations I agreed to go through a screening process so I can get a scholarship to go to school. Unfortunately, after a few screening test I go to meet with the individual from this program to get the final ok to become a counselor and they were the ones that essentially cut the scholarship check. After passing screenings that said I would probably be a good fit, the counselor I met with tried to convince me to go into construction and stated I probably would be better working with my hands. After I left angry and offended I told the counselor what happen which set off a train reaction of emails and the individual basically stating I was lying and he never said that. Two years later my favorite counselor passes away, a friend that also said I would make a great counselor passed away and I decided I would figure out how I was going to become that counselor. I called around to different schools and hearing the prices I was discouraged but kept going until eventually through conversations with the director who informed me that my current job location was the same location of their head quarters and I should go see the executive at the time. I took his advice, went with my work mop bucket and all, and he was willing to have a conversation with me that led to a conversation with a school that I went to the next day. I met with the director, told him my journey, he invited me to class the following day to sit in and see if id like it and then offered to not only let me attend for free but offer another certification. That led me to my career in Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor that opened so many doors for me today. Never quit because someone doesn’t see your vision. Your vision isn’t a zoom meeting so don’t treat it like it is.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I would definitely say my work ethic and overall innovated advocacy. I’ve always been one to not want to reinvent the wheel but just put rims on it so to speak. How to we address today and tomorrow instead of focusing on yesterday. I started doing speaking engagements at churches, probation, parole, group homes, children’s agencies and most if not all for free. The way I seen it was I had a job that could pay my bills but I loved those opportunities because they paid my vision. Before I knew it people were practically paying me for just my thoughts. Being persistent is how you get it, being consistent is how you keep it and I just stayed consistent. Consistent and true to myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: andreapparicio.com
- Instagram: andreapparicio.com_
- Linkedin: Andre Apparicio
- Twitter: @Its_a_Process_
Image Credits
Robresha Anderson, Richard Celestin, Amari Finley