Help Launch Pacific Reentry Career Services

Pacific Reentry Career Services was founded by Stephanie Hammerwold and Tim Pershing in early 2016 as a nonprofit, 501(c)3 corporation. The goal of Pacific Reentry Career Services is to reduce recidivism by providing justice-involved women with support in finding meaningful employment.  Stephanie and Tim have both seen the value of hiring people that are normally considered difficult-to-employ, and they saw the need for providing mentorship and support to job seekers. Not only do they want to support job seekers when they are released from jail or prison, but they also want to help educate employers on the benefits to hiring this population.

Stephanie and Tim first worked together when Tim was Editor-in-Chief of their college newspaper. He persuaded Stephanie to be Opinion Editor with vague claims that the section would write itself. Even though it was not quite that easy, they formed a partnership that would carry over to when they reconnected years later and made the decision to work together again. Their business endeavors led them to take on freelance writing projects and HR consulting, but they both realized they wanted to get back to our nonprofit roots and do something that gave back to the community. They were both raised with a strong sense of social justice and a commitment to making communities better.

Tim’s experience has included working in education, legal research volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster children and working with various nonprofits. Stephanie has worked in HR for over ten years. She was also a victim advocate at a domestic violence shelter where she ran a weekly art and writing workshop that she later took to the Santa Cruz County women’s jail as a volunteer.

It is important for us to keep our services free for clients, so we rely on the generous support of friends, family and the community. Please join us in helping women rebuild their lives!

Pacific Reentry Career Services has tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code. Contributions made to Pacific Reentry Career Services are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.