The program
Twelve weeks, and a notebook that is his
A man sits down with other men, once a week, for twelve weeks. He decides what he wants. He writes down the steps, with a date on each. He starts with something he can do this week.
That is the whole shape of it. Nobody hands him a goal. Nobody grades him. The group holds him to what he said out loud, and he holds himself to the page.
Who it is for
Three rooms, one program
The same program runs in separate rooms, so that every man can speak freely among men whose situation looks like his.
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Men coming home from incarceration
No ID, a suspended license, child support, a background check, no lease in his name, and somewhere to sleep that is not settled. The reentry group, and a house with the program inside it.
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Working men and fathers who have never been arrested
A career he has outgrown, a marriage under strain, a father he does not speak to, a debt, a credential he never finished. The community group, alongside men like him.
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Crews on the job
Turnover, absences, safety incidents, and men falling apart with nobody noticing. The workforce group, brought to the employer — often the same employer who hires men coming home. This room opens after the first groups have run.
The program is built for men carrying real weight. A man whose life is already steady can sit in it and still get something. It was not designed around him.
What happens
Accountability, money, and work
Small groups. Three threads running through all twelve weeks: accountability to the men in the room, financial responsibility, and career preparation.
- He chooses every goal. A goal a man picks for himself will outlast the one someone hands him. The facilitator never assigns one.
- He writes it down, with a date. The notebook is blank when he gets it. By the end it holds what he wants, the steps to get there, and the dates he set.
- He starts this week. Not the plan for the year. The one thing he can do before the next session.
- The room holds him to it. What he said he would do is what the group asks about. That is the accountability, and it is the only kind that works on a grown man.
What BMV keeps, and what it does not
Said plainly, before he speaks
"I don't keep notes on what you say in here. I keep your name, whether you showed up, and what you told the room you'd do. That's it."
That is what a man is told in the first session, and it is the truth. BMV has no legal privilege and will not pretend to. What protects him is that what was never written down cannot be handed over.
His notebook is never copied, photographed, scanned, or collected. Nobody keeps a copy. Nothing about a man in any group is made public.
Showing up
The standard is the material, not the chair
Miss a session and you make it up one-on-one with the facilitator before the next one. If something outside your control takes you out — a hospital, a jail, a shift that changed — call. The call is what counts.
If you fall off and come back, you keep your notebook. You start over as a participant, not as a man.
Getting a seat
One conversation
You do not need a referral, a record, or a diagnosis to ask. There is no fee to apply and no form to start. Tell us your situation and what you are trying to get to.
Texts and email are answered within one business day. If you would rather write: [email protected]. If you would rather talk, call the same number and leave a message. If you are calling on behalf of a man in your custody or on your caseload, the referral page has what you need.
What we will report
The numbers come after the work
The first group has not met, so there is nothing to report yet. When there is, it will be reported four ways, together: who completed, who completed after coming back, who withdrew, and who was interrupted by something outside his control. Never a single rate on its own, because a single rate hides the men it leaves out.
Featured publication
The Other Walls
Sho-Don Lamont Gilliam and Better Men of Virginia · First edition, September 2026
A workbook for men coming home from incarceration or working through recovery. It covers the unwritten rules a man carries from one place to the next, the small commitments he can keep this week, and a plan for what comes next.
- CostFree
- FormatsWeb, fillable PDF, and print
- PrivacyNo registration. Nothing written in it is collected.