staceybooks

Change doesn’t always announce itself with fanfare. Sometimes it comes as a quiet tug at your heart, a heaviness you can’t shake, or the sense that life is moving forward and you’re still stuck in the same place. Other times, it shows up as a storm – forcing you to confront what you’ve been trying…

On August 28th, I turn 50. That number feels big, not because I’m afraid of getting older, but because it carries weight. It’s half a century of surviving, stumbling, rebuilding, and growing. It’s five decades of living through struggles I never imagined I’d face and blessings I never thought I deserved. The Year I Was…

I’m talking to you…the one who walks into a family room and braces. The one whose past, pain, or private life gets dragged out like a prop. You’re not overreacting. You’re being weaponized, and you don’t have to live like that. This isn’t theory. This is a practical, say-it-tonight moment to stop the damage and…

When we talk about reducing crime, the conversation too often centers around longer sentences and bigger prisons. But what if the most cost-effective way to reduce crime is not by locking more people up, but by educating them? I read a groundbreaking study by Audrey Bazos and Jessica Hausman at UCLA (Correctional Education as a…

Today I lost a friend. He came into my life when I was just 17. My daughter grew up calling him “Uncle,” not by blood, but by the kind of loyalty and history that runs deeper than DNA. He was her dad’s best friend since kindergarten. Always around. Always part of the story. Always in…

In a world where talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not, Persevere stands in the gap. We train individuals who are justice-involved or facing significant barriers to employment, equipping them with the technical skills, career readiness, and personal development tools needed to thrive in today’s workforce. But we don’t stop at education. We help them…

Stress is one of those silent forces that creeps in slowly, and then suddenly feels like it’s everywhere. It shows up in the tension in your shoulders, in the tears you hold back during meetings, and in the sleepless nights where your mind races with a thousand unfinished tasks. It whispers lies that you’re not…

I was 24 years old when I packed up my life, my daughter, and every ounce of courage I had, and moved to Tennessee with her dad. That drive was more than just miles on the road. It was a leap into the unknown. I didn’t realize it then, but that move would change the…

There’s a specific kind of exhaustion that comes from constantly having to explain someone’s value. A fatigue that sets in when, time and time again, you find yourself justifying why a person with a criminal background or any barrier to employment is worthy of a second chance. A first chance. Any chance. We have built…

There was a moment in my life when I looked at my daughter and realized we were hanging on by a thread. I was a mother trying to survive, doing everything I could to protect her while everything around me was falling apart. We weren’t homeless, but we were close. Too close. The truth is,…