05:40
Interview
When you’re given a second chance with anything: take a hold of that second chance, be the best that you can, and give it all that you have to give.
About Ty
- I grew up in a great Christian-based home in Knoxville, Tennessee, but things quickly changed when my mother married an alcoholic—from then on, I faced a lot of abuse and turned to drugs to cope.
- I dropped out of school and the community I grew up around quickly shifted to drug dealers, drug users, prostitutes, and gamblers.
- I had already been in and out of prison a couple of times before my final arrest for selling drugs in Lewisburg, Tennessee.
- I decided that I needed help, so I put myself on the waiting list for Magdalene, a residential recovery program for women with criminal histories of prostitution and addiction.
- I got a bed at a Magdalene home and stayed there working on myself for about a year—despite my efforts, I was still sentenced to 14 years for my drug charge.
- While in prison, I participated in behavioral modification programs, started working towards my GED, and stopped hanging around the wrong crowds—I was granted parole three years later.
- I returned to the Magdalene program and got a job with Thistle Farms—I started working as a candle maker and have worked my way up to assistant director of manufacturing.
- I’ve been out of prison for over eight years now without any violations!