By John Bowman, Executive Director, Hope Inspired Ministries

For 26 years, I wore a badge with the Montgomery Police Department. Every day, my mission was clear: protect the public and lower crime. When someone broke the law, our response was simple — arrest them, book them, and hope the message would stick.

But after years on the job, a painful truth began to sink in. The same faces kept coming back. We’d arrest, release, and repeat — only to see the same names show up on the docket. It felt like we were fighting symptoms, not the sickness.

That’s when I learned one of the greatest lessons of my life: the police department is the cough syrup, not the cure.

Finding the Cure

After years of chasing crime statistics, I began to connect with local nonprofits — people working in the trenches to rebuild lives instead of just reacting to broken behavior. That’s when I discovered what real change looks like.

Today, as Executive Director of Hope Inspired Ministries (HIM), I get to be part of that cure every single day. At HIM, we do workforce development with a heavy dose of social work. We’re not just putting people back into the workforce — we’re helping them become whole again.

Our motto is simple but powerful: Recruit. Train. Employ.™

• Recruit means meeting people where they are, not waiting for them to come to us. It’s what Jesus did throughout His ministry — He went to the broken and promised not to leave them there.

• Train means equipping them with the tools they need to succeed — job skills, life skills, and a renewed mindset.

• Employ means sending them out into the world as changed people. And when you send out a changed person, there’s a ripple effect. They impact their families, their communities, and future generations.

That’s how you end poverty — one life at a time.

A Story That Stuck With Me

During my time at the police department, I remember one man who had been arrested more than 40 times. Forty. And every time, we’d send him back into the same situation expecting something different.

Eventually, we tried something new. Instead of booking him again, we referred him to Hope Inspired Ministries.

Today, that same man is working full-time. But it didn’t stop there — he’s now sending other people to us who are ready for change.

That’s the cure in action. That’s what transformation looks like.

One Life at a Time

When you support a nonprofit, you’re doing far more than helping one person. You’re making your city safer. You’re restoring dignity. You’re breaking generational poverty.

Every day, I get to see hope reignited — people who once felt forgotten now finding purpose again. And I’ve learned that what we do in the nonprofit world isn’t just social work. It’s heart work.

So if you work in a nonprofit, or you support one, thank you. You’re helping make communities whole again — one life at a time.

And a special thank-you to the Alabama Association of Nonprofits for bringing organizations like ours together to share ideas, encouragement, and impact. Together, we’re making Alabama stronger — one story of hope at a time.

Takeaway

Police officers respond to problems.  Nonprofits respond to people.

And when we respond to people — with compassion, consistency, and community — we don’t just reduce crime.  We restore hope.

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About the Author:

 John Bowman serves as Executive Director of Hope Inspired Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit that equips adults facing employment barriers to become self-sufficient through job training, life skills development, and spiritual growth. He previously served 26 years with the Montgomery Police Department.