Hand Up Not a Handout, Inc. was founded in 2010, by Shalanda Jackson, LCSW, CSOTP. She saw the need for more adults to become involved in teenagers lives. In 2005, she began volunteering for Big Brother Big Sister in Richmond, VA. After this match ended, she majored in the Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. While majoring at VCU, she volunteered for the Carver Promise Program in Richmond, VA. After volunteering for these programs, she began to see the need for more positive role models in inner city children lives. After graduating in 2009, she decided to pursue her master’s degree at VCU School of Social Work. During her tenure at VCU she interned at Boaz and Ruth and Rubicon which allowed her to see the injustices faced by individuals who have committed non-violent crimes, did their time; however, due to local, state and federal laws, most of these individuals are not able to give back to their communities in a productive way. Therefore, her experience volunteering with local organizations that assists juveniles and adults who are at risk for continuing in a cycle of poverty, has created in her a vision to work with other community organization to bridge the gap between non-violent ex offenders and the community.