Eight months after walking out of the Tarrant County Jail, Channing Walker-Ragsdale is building a future he once struggled to imagine. The longtime Fort Worth resident, who spent years battling addiction and cycling in and out of incarceration, now runs his own personal training business, is on t he verge of full-time employment, and serves as a re-entry coordinator helping others transition back into society. In mid-July, while surrounded by supporters from across Tarrant County, Walker-Ragsdale reached another milestone – receiving the keys to a donated vehicle that will help him continue moving forward. But those who gathered at Freeman Toyota in Hurst said the story is about far more than a car. It’s about a network of nonprofits, educators, law enforcement leaders, businesses and community members who have worked together to create opportunities for people seeking a second chance. “This journey and these people that you see here have really been instrumental in helping me transform my life,” Walker-Ragsdale told NBC 5. Finding hope behind bars Walker-Ragsdale was released from jail in November 2025. Like many people returning to society after incarceration, he faced significant challenges, including finding stable housing, employment, transportation and support while maintaining sobriety. During previous periods of incarceration, he said he often searched for opportunities for rehabilitation but struggled to establish a sustainable path forward once released. “I have been struggling with addiction for a very long time in my life, as well as going in and out of institutions of incarceration many times,” he said. This time, however, he began building connections before his release. “I didn’t want to come back to jail and repeat my former past behaviors,” Walker-Ragsdale said. Those relationships started through TFT Organization, or Tomorrow’s Families Today. It’s a nonprofit that provides financial literacy, life-skills training and mentoring programs inside local jails and detention facilities. Walker-Ragsdale said the program gave him something he had not experienced before – a plan and a support network waiting for him on the outside. “They’re teaching us on the inside, but then they are preparing to meet us on the outside,” he said. “It gave me a plan of action. It gave me an opportunity to say, ‘You know what? There’s some people expecting me when I come home that know my history, understand my weaknesses and are prepared to help navigate me through the process.’” TFT founder and CEO Broderick Taylor saw something different in Walker-Ragsdale from the moment he attended the organization’s classes inside the jail. “When I was in the financial literacy class with Mr. Walker, and you can see him sitting up,” Taylor said. “A lot of people in the classes, sometimes they sit back, but every class, he’s sitting up, he’s taking notes. He’s staying later in the class. The bailiffs are like, ‘Hey, come on, you gotta get back into your cell.’ He’s asking questions.” His story also felt familiar. Years before founding TFT, Taylor faced many of the same struggles. Raised by a single mother and moving frequently throughout Texas, Taylor said he eventually became caught in a cycle of crime and incarceration. “I know what the guys are going through when they get locked up and then when they get released,” he said. Taylor recalls walking out of jail after his final incarceration and realizing he needed to make a different choice. “The last time I got out of jail, my sister wanted to pick me up,” Taylor said. “I said, ‘No, I’m walking.’” During that walk down Lancaster Avenue, he passed Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County and realized what his future could become if he did not change direction. Today, he uses those experiences to mentor others. “Let somebody walk you through it,” Taylor said. “Sometimes we get the mindset that we can do it by ourselves. It’s much harder doing it by yourself.” The TFT program operates with support from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, which allows inmates access to educational and personal development opportunities before they are released. Sheriff Bill Waybourn said those programs can have a significant impact on public safety by helping people avoid returning to jail. “We can set the table for them to say, ‘Hey, here’s some skills that you can learn to take back to the free world and not come back,’” Waybourn said. “It gives me chill bumps to see people’s lives turned around and the past put behind them and they start on this new future.” According to the sheriff, participants in these programs have experienced dramatically lower recidivism rates. “When they do that with the enthusiasm that you’ve seen today, they’re generally incredibly successful,” he said. “We’ve seen our recidivism rate go from 70% in these programs down to less than 22%. So they’re making an impact.” Waybourn said stories like Walker-Ragsdale’s demonstrate the potential of rehabilitation programs when participants fully commit to them. A village comes together After leaving jail, Walker-Ragsdale followed Taylor’s advice and enrolled in programs at Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County. Just blocks from the jail, the mission provides emergency shelter, addiction recovery services, job-readiness training and long-term support programs. Through ongoing mentoring and support, he began rebuilding his life step by step and got help in establishing financial stability. “Union Gospel Mission, they connected me with Prosperity Bank. They connected me with various different resources that were available,” Walker-Ragsdale said. “They helped me with my credit, helping me with banks, understanding, just navigating through life.” He graduated from Union Gospel Mission’s program and is helping guide others who are taking the same path. “We’re grateful for him coming through the program,” Taylor said. “And we’re looking for more individuals like him.” Walker-Ragsdale’s journey isn’t complete without the ride to help him continue down this path. That’s where Fort Worth ISD steps into his village. When Freeman Toyota in Hurst donated a Toyota Avalon for TFT’s second-chance vehicle initiative, it needed repairs. That work fell to recent O.D. Wyatt High School graduate Carlos Flores and his instructor. “So between me and my instructor, we took it apart, and we put it back together again with a brand-new alternator to make sure everything was good to go,” Flores said. The project is part of TFT’s broader partnership with the school district. They work in schools to promote financial literacy, mentorship and crime-prevention efforts while also providing scholarships and career opportunities for students pursuing skilled trades. Flores said the experience showed him that technical skills can be used to serve others. “When I first started working on cars, everyone always told me that it makes good money, but what this program taught me was that it gives me an opportunity to give back, really. More than what money is worth,” he said. “It makes me feel really happy knowing that I had a part to do with it. And I just wish him nothing but the best really moving forward.” When the car was presented to Walker-Ragsdale, it marked the first time all the partners involved in his journey had come together in one place. This was the second car presented to a recipient of TFT in this program, with hopes to keep the momentum going for years to come. “We just believe that if you can get them all together, we have a lot of separate entities doing a lot of different things,” Taylor said. “You saw a young man work on the car. He gets a scholarship. He gives the gift to the community…Then you see a young man that gets out. He gets a job. He starts a business, and now he’s giving back to the community.” For Walker-Ragsdale, reliable transportation represents another crucial step toward maintaining the life he has worked to build. “You need transportation in order to navigate throughout the city,” he said. “And so this is just an amazing opportunity.” The TFT organization hopes others will be inspired by this second chance and will connect with them and other resources in Tarrant County to turn their life around. “That old saying, it takes a village,” Taylor said. “Well, guess what? It takes a village as an adult as well.” ...read more read less