T.I. is making power moves to help those that may have experienced setbacks and delays after being imprisoned.
The hip-hop superstar joined forces with New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta to help bail out 23 non-violent offenders from Georgia’s Dekalb County Jail just in time for Easter Sunday.
According the The Hill, seven women and 16 men benefitted from the church’s “Bail Out” program, which raised more than $120,000 in bail.
Although the initial goal was to raise $40,000 to bail out inmates at the start of Lent, donations went through the roof once T.I. and Love & Hip Hop personality Scrapp DeLeon became involved. Now, the fundraising initiative has been extended beyond the weekend.
“I looked at what was happening in the prison pipeline and realized that the church voice had been muted on the issue of prison reform,” the church’s senior pastor Jamal Bryant told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “I realized that we needed to be part of what was taking place.”
Each of the newly-released citizens will be connected with a certified mentor for weekly check-ins. In addition, a portion of the donations received by the program will be used to establish college funds for former inmates with children and aid in career support.
Tyron Pollard, who admitted that he was once on drugs and subsequently “locked up,” was one man who benefitted from the program.
He expressed his gratitude, saying: “For people to just reach out, willing to help out of the blue, them not knowing you from nobody…that’s a blessing.”