“Then Peter came up and said to him, “’Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’” Jesus said to him, “’I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’” (Mat 18:21-22 NIV)

This month, 4Tucson is honored to have Dr. Da’Mond Holt as our guest speaker for the breakfast on Friday, September 29, 2023. The breakfast begins at 8AM and is held at Northminster Presbyterian Church. Dr. Holt will be talking about Fresh Start, the expo of which will take place October 21, 2023. 

Requests have been made to know more about Dr. Holt and Fresh Start. The following information will help answer some questions.

Fresh Start started in June of 2019 from the vision of the founder and CEO, Dr. Da’Mond T. Holt. After seeing the vicious cycle of oppression of the justice system, he didn’t just want to stand by and allow this harsh and depressing cycle to continue in the lives of ex-offenders. Hence, he started the Fresh Start Rights and Restoration event. 

Dr. Holt reached out to the Pima County Public Defender’s Office, the Pima County Justice Courts and other agencies to help ex-offenders get their rights restored and their convictions set aside. He planned to host a second Fresh Start in 2020, but the pandemic halted that intent. During this lull, he re-imagined Fresh Start as a larger affair by offering more programs and resources; a one-stop-shop event as it is structured today.

Currently, the Fresh Start Expo is Tucson’s largest public safety event. We served approximately 1,000 people in October 2022 at the Tucson Convention Center. Fresh Start Expo is the ultimate one-stop-shop that helps formerly incarcerated people rebuild, redevelop, and restart their lives with resources and partnerships.

Fresh Start brings all the courts in Southern AZ, plus the County Attorney, County Public Defender Office, Juvenile Courts, and Pima County One Stop with felony-friendly employment, Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse Counseling, and Free haircuts and clothes to mention a few resources. Below is a partial list of the benefits and impacts from last year’s Fresh Start Expo:
1.    Resolved nearly 200 pending warrants
2.    Re-instated suspended driver’s license
3.    Reduces thousands of dollars in court fees and fines
4.    Felons got their voter’s rights restored
5.    Convictions set-a-side
6.    Felony-Friend Employment
7.    Free Hair Cuts
8.    Free Clothes
9.    Christmas Toy Giveaway that reached over 300 kids

We look forward to hearing from Dr. Holt as he speaks on this topic on September 29th.