As we start another year at CoreCivic, I’d like us to reflect on all we did to build on our commitment to reduce recidivism in 2018.

From our dedicated staff running life-changing reentry programs to the implementation of our reentry public policy initiative, I’m incredibly proud that our company has stayed so focused on our mission to help those in our care remain out of prison once released.Our employees view that mission as our company’s purpose — and that’s a victory for our company, for inmates and their families, and for our communities and our nation.

Now, I’d like to add one more accomplishment to the list: the establishment of the CoreCivic Foundation. It’s our company’s very own nonprofit dedicated to supporting organizations that work to reduce recidivism.

At CoreCivic, we’ve always been committed to charitable giving. We raised a record $531,000 through our 27^th annual Chairman’s Charity Golf Classic this past October, bringing our total to more than $4.8 million since the event’s inception. Last year's proceeds went to organizations serving former offenders, victims of crime and abuse, and underserved youth.

We also partner with many nonprofit organizations to help people in need in our communities and around the world. For example, we deliver furniture to Habitat for Humanity from our woodshop at Crowley County Correctional Facility in Colorado. And through our Wheels for the World program at Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Tennessee, we provide refurbished wheelchairs to people in need all over the world. As a company, we’re focused on doing good wherever we can, however we can.

The CoreCivic Foundation will continue to work in concert with our current partnerships and giving commitments. At the same time, the foundation will focus our charitable efforts even more on our mission to reduce recidivism.

Previously, CoreCivic had a charitable fund established through the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT). With 501(c)(3) status, the CoreCivic Foundation will streamline the excellent work we accomplished through the CFMT.

Supporting organizations that reduce recidivism is critical to our mission. Here at CoreCivic, we have always maintained that, while we know we can play an important role, we can’t fix America’s recidivism crisis by ourselves. Our industry is part of a private-sector solution caring for a fraction — about 9 percent — of our nation’s inmates.

That’s why we need to support partner organizations that carry on the hard work of helping people out in our communities. These organizations provide job training, education, counseling and other services that help people lead productive lives, rather than returning to prison.

Raul Lopez, executive director of Men of Valor, recently said, “Companies like CoreCivic are vital for us to do what we do.” He added that the organization — which provides intensive, faith-based reentry services to more than 800 men both in and outside of prison — survives on donations from organizations and companies like ours.