After Orange Filed for its non-profit status in September of 2020 but the project started back in 2013 when Cassandra Hein started documenting women leaving Florence McClure Correctional Facility, a women’s prison in Northern Las Vegas.  Cassandra’s sister Jamie was serving her 6th year in prison at the time and couldn’t help but notice the volume of women who were getting out, just to get in trouble and end back in the prison again.  It was a revolving door.  While in visitation, the two would discuss why it was so hard for these women to stay out of trouble once released and how interesting following people the moment they left that place would be.  Where would they go, what would they do? 

 

So, Cassandra began documenting and interviewing as many women as she could, along with other programs and people in the community to understand and share the issues.  After interviewing dozens of people in her qualitative research, Cassandra concluded that the answer to her burning question was the housing problem.  A sketchy housing situation always led to a sketchy situation.  Period.  Jobs, state of mind, and getting your business in order were among the things that could not be accomplished if the housing situation was not in order.  Not having a program and tools to apply and work towards is a recipe for old behavior.  

 

Cassandra decided that she would take the documentation process further and open a transitional home.  Luckily, she had a family friend interested in helping and she was able to access a nice home to implement her program and document the process.  She called the house ‘After Orange: Halfway Home”.  The program consisted of implementing organizational tools, stress management, self-realization, life coping and stress reduction techniques, and community service and outreach.  

 

Unfortunately, the home was not eligible to be licensed, which meant that she could not get the women who were up for parole directly out of prison.  When Jamie was released in 2017 she convinced Cassandra to pull the plug and close the home.  The scope of the project was too large for them at that time.

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In 2019, Cassandra re-connected with the first woman she followed out of prison, Brittany Dodd-Santiago.  The two decided they wanted to continue working to get a licensed home for women in the Las Vegas area.  Not long after, they reconnected with Caanen Clegg, another very good friend that Jamie served time with at FMWCC.  They all shared a common passion for the cause and incorporated After Orange as a non-profit organization at the end of 2020.

 

We are driven by a single goal; to do our part in making our communities a better place for all.

 

Our mission is to provide education, social services, and harm reduction initiatives to people whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. Helping ex-offenders assimilate back into society and live their best lives. This includes criminal justice initiatives and reform; Re-entry services, housing, rehabilitation services, education and helping ex-offenders assimilate back into society; public outreach, awareness, inclusion, transformation and community service.