THE SECOND CHANCE GRANT GUIDE — Grants & Resources For Formerly Incarcerated Individuals

You did the time. Now it's time to build something.

Most grant websites give you a link and move on. Nobody tells you which ones actually apply to your situation, what the eligibility looks like, or how to even get started. That ends here.

The Second Chance Grant Guide is a comprehensive, organized resource built specifically for formerly incarcerated individuals — and the people who love them and want to help them get back on their feet.

What's inside:

— Small Business & Entrepreneurship Grants including the TRANSFORM Business Grant (up to $1,000), Bizee Fresh Start Business Grant ($2,500 + membership), NASE Growth Grant ($4,000 quarterly), Inmates to Entrepreneurs, Secretsos Small Business Grant, and more

— Training, Mentorship & Development Programs including Georgetown Pivot Program (weekly stipend + pitch competition funding), Defy Ventures, and Help For Felons

— Federal Government Reentry Programs including DOJ Second Chance Act, DOL Pathway Home, PROWD Workforce Development, Federal Bonding Program (free fidelity bond up to $25,000), SNAP food assistance, Section 8 housing assistance, HUD Transitional Housing Grants, and Medicaid healthcare access

— Education Grants including the Pell Grant / Second Chance Pell (up to $7,395/year), Empowering a Better Tomorrow Scholarship ($5,000), and Workforce Development Center training grants

— Legislation to Watch including the New Start Act of 2025 — a proposed SBA pilot program awarding $100,000 to $500,000 to organizations serving formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs

— Key Resource Directories including the National Reentry Resource Center, CareerOneStop, HelpForFelons.org, GrantWatch, Grantivia, the 211 Helpline, and free legal aid contacts for Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania

This guide was built by someone who worked inside the system as a government investigator and knows how records, expungements, and reentry resources actually work — not from a blog post but from real institutional experience.