THE NEW LEAF INITIATIVE FUND
THE NEW LEAF INITIATIVE FUND
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The New Leaf Initiative FUND (TNLIF) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2024 in the state of Delaware. While our roots are in New Castle County, our mission extends across the United States, supporting and advocating for currently incarcerated individuals and those returning home after long-term incarceration.
TNLIF was created to address the deep gaps in reentry support, especially for those who have served significant time. Our ultimate goal is to develop trauma-informed programming and housing supports that leverage the lived experience, professional expertise, and passion of our members.
We are committed to creating opportunities for healing, stability, and empowerment through partnerships, community engagement, and advocacy. Together, we aim to redefine what successful reentry can look like—centered on dignity, equity, first and second chances.
Our Mission
The New Leaf Initiative FUND (TNLIF) was founded in 2024 to challenge a broken system—one that for decades has prioritized punishment over rehabilitation, and mass incarceration over meaningful second chances. Rooted in Delaware and committed to national impact, we provide holistic support for men and women returning home after long-term incarceration—those who have served excessive sentences under outdated, harsh sentencing laws and have too often been warehoused rather than prepared for release.
Our mission is to offer what the system failed to: trauma-informed care, practical support, and pathways to real reintegration. We believe reentry begins well before someone walks out the gate—and that returning citizens deserve more than a bus ticket and a list of shelters. TNLIF is committed to building a network of support that includes:
Safe and Stable Housing that offers dignity and structure, not just a roof.
Workforce Development designed to build confidence, skills, and financial independence.
Mental Health & Trauma Recovery that acknowledges the deep harm caused by incarceration and the environments that preceded it.
Life Skills Training that helps people navigate a society that changed while they were locked away.
We also fight for systemic change. TNLIF advocates for second chances for those who have demonstrated accountability and transformation—even if the system never gave them a fair shot. We challenge the legacy of “tough on crime” policies that handed out life sentences to children, stacked decades on nonviolent charges, and ignored the root causes of crime—poverty, trauma, addiction, and systemic racism.
Our work is guided by those who’ve lived it. Our team includes returned citizens, social workers, and advocates who know firsthand what’s missing from reentry and what’s possible when people are met with compassion, opportunity, and support. We’re here to flip the script—from punishment to possibility, from incarceration to innovation, from surviving to thriving.
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