From Prison to Purpose: Gabe's Second Chance with Jobs of Hope

Gabriel (Gabe) Gonzales enrolled in Jobs of Hope in April of 2025. However, Gabe had a somewhat different story from the average client. Gabe had actually volunteered and then worked for Jobs of Hope around 10 years ago. At that time, Gabe was a peer specialist, helping other clients with rides, offering a listening ear, and supporting them on their journey through the Jobs of Hope program. Gabe recently met with us to talk about his journey. Gabe’s story, all the way from childhood and then prison to purpose, highlights the trauma that many young people face in our community when there are no strong positive influences in their lives.

The Journey from Prison To Purpose

“Well, I was raised by my mom…I really didn’t know my dad. Basically, I was raised by my mom. My stepdad was around, he did his best trying to take care of me. My stepdad basically was the only real father figure I had around, and I have two brothers. And then, my stepdad had some kids, but I only really associated with my sister, Nina.”

“I think my mom did the best that she could do. But it was me and my two brothers and they had their dad. They would go with their dad, and like I couldn’t go with them. So, that always kept me aware of the fact that my dad wasn’t around, that there was a difference between me and my brothers.”

“My mom was really strict with me. But at the time, I just started to hang out with friends more, and then I learned that if I didn’t come home after school, I could stay out later. I had a few crazy cousins. I just followed them around; then, as I started to get older, I just started hanging around with different people from school. I was going to Heath [Middle School]. Even before Heath, I went to a juvenile place in Longmont when I was like 11 years old. I got taken out of the home. I stole somebody’s bag from the school. I couldn’t believe it. I remember the day I left, away from my mom’s house.”

“So, when I came back [to Greeley], I started going to junior high. And then that’s where girls started. I started getting more involved with girls. Then started drinking a little bit and smoking weed. And then from there it was kinda crazy because I caught like some theft charges, motor vehicle theft and I had a cousin who came from Portland, Oregon, and we started hanging, going to house parties. I wound up just catching some cases, and wound up going to jail. In and out of jail. Hanging around with gang members. And all of a sudden, you see them lights flashing and all that. Well, about a few different incidents. I always got caught. That’s the thing. I always got caught. Then I started not wanting to be home.”

“I never made it to high school. I went from junior high - I dropped out of school.

Then I wound up in jail on a burglary charge. I had a long history of little charges here and there, a bunch of little stuff. At the time, they were really examples out of people. They wound up sending me to prison. I tried to go to the halfway house, but they denied me. I was 18 years old in the county jail in G-Max, and on lockdown 24 hours. They had filed me as a gang member.”

“I was in jail for almost two years, waiting to go [to prison]. I was young. I didn’t really realize what was going on. I had somewhere to sleep, because at the time, I was on the streets, I didn’t really have anywhere to go. So, when I went to jail, it was safe; I had food. There were a lot of my friends in there. I just felt like this was my life. Like, this was like normal, because not just me, but my friends all going to prison at the time. I got six years, I did three on it.”

“At the same time, my mom was a Christian, and she had planted that seed long before I had went to jail. Where I learned to read was in the county jail, reading my Bible. I had a good idea and awareness of God in my life. So, when I went there, I just knew that God would never send me somewhere where I would get hurt.”

“So, then I got out from there and went on to parole, and then it was just like a revolving door. In and out. In and out. And this went on for a period of years. I had just turned 21 years old. So, I started hitting the clubs, going to the bars, and going to the strip clubs. I went back to prison, on some parole violations, in and out. Got back out. Yeah. And then I went back. I did like four years, nine months on that seven. It became my life in there.”

“I finally got out of prison [2004], and I really didn’t realize how much it had mentally made me different. It really messed me up in the head. And I was thinking to myself that I somehow gotta figure out how to stop this. I wanted to do good, I just didn’t know how to do good.”

Finding Second Chances

Gabe described how, over the next 20 years, he went back to jail on many

occasions. His charges escalated, including drug abuse and gun charges. By 2012, he and his wife moved to North Carolina to start over, but that didn’t work out either. His family moved back to Greeley. After another jail stay, Gabe ran into a friend who told him about Jobs of Hope. Gabe entered the program [2017] and found success. Gabe completed an early version of the Jobs of Hope program and began volunteering to mentor other clients. But as COVID came on, he was let go.

“That was like a lot of the money towards our bills and stuff, that was gone. We [Gabe and his wife at the time] started using together, and it was just the craziest thing because I knew where it was gonna lead. Like, I knew what was gonna happen.”

Gabe went back to jail in 2018, and after getting out, his marital problems led to a divorce. More in and out of jail. While he was out, he entered into a relationship with his new wife, Desiree. There were more jail stays over the next few years. During these years, Gabe would run into people that he knew from Jobs of Hope, and it would make him feel bad, as if he had let everyone down. After one more stay in jail, Gabe came to Jobs of Hope in April 2025, determined to get his life back on track.

Renewed Hope

Gabe came to Jobs of Hope with a new attitude and determination to get things right this time. He dug into all his classes with tenacity, attended all case management sessions, and other meetings. In May, Executive Director Dan Ordaz spoke on Gabe’s behalf at his court appearance. Judge Vigil allowed Gabe to avoid a lengthy prison sentence and instead provided alternative sentencing, including participation in Jobs of Hope.

Gabe is another example of what is possible when we, as a community, come together to support these individuals in their journey toward life transformation. He has only a few weeks left in his alternative sentencing before being released to his home and family. He will be on parole at that point, but finally living at home, in peace.

When asked what Jobs of Hope means to Gabe, he answered, “a second chance at life, an opportunity to start over, to get your life in order.”