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Our Story
The GOTB Coalition helps formerly incarcerated individuals access essential items like clothing, supplies, cell phones, and food.
After serving over ten years, those released without support are sent to the bus station wearing only prison clothes.
Upon returning home, they must quickly obtain necessities but often lack funds, placing financial stress on family and friends. Without assistance, they struggle to meet parole and probation payments, feeling as though punishment continues.
The GOTB Coalition offers a pathway to help these individuals succeed.
What We Do
personal care Items
We provide returning citizens with basic necessities to assist with their transition to the community.
Prison ministry
Successful reentry starts before getting on the bus. We begin building relationships and providing support in prison.
Mentoring
Successful reentry starts before getting on the bus. We begin building relationships and providing support in prison.
With Your Help, We are Making The World a Better Place
Our mission to provide a bridge to success. We provide returning citizens with the basic personal care items that they need as soon as they arrive home. Without these basic needs they find themselves already behind when it comes to getting a solid footing in their new reality.
GOTB COALITION MOVEMENT
Dollars Raised
We can’t do this alone. Financial donations help make it possible to bridge gaps & provide a seamless transition to the community.
Volunteers
The donation of time is priceless. Our volunteers assist with obtaining & distributing resources, as well as making connections.
Contributors
Whether financial, goods, or resources, when you contribute, your are touching the life of someone who needs you.
individuals assisted
Thousands of returning citizens need our assistance. We are just getting started!! Help us increase our impact!
Your Donations Make a HUGE Impact
A Letter from the Board
My name is Harry Childress, founder and CEO of the non-profit organization GOTB Coalition (Get on the Bus) Coalition.
For four years, I volunteered as a prison minister in middle Georgia, gaining direct insight into the harsh realities incarcerated individuals face. Conditions are far worse than I expected; prisons are unsuitable even for hardened offenders. Our society must improve how we address this issue.
For almost four years, my team and I worked to share scripture, offer hope, and donate essential hygiene supplies. We were grateful to help bring relief from their daily challenges.
During our ministry, our team got to know the people we helped personally. We discovered their backgrounds, goals, and families. It became clear they were ordinary individuals who made mistakes and now face consequences that often seem excessive.
Sometimes, we celebrated when friends were released after 10 or even 30 years in prison. Often, they had lost family support and only had friends from inside, leaving them feeling lost upon release. Many received no preparation for reentry, not always due to the system but simply because they didn’t know what to expect. Consider the changes over decades—technology, jobs, and family—and how difficult it is to adjust after being away for so long.
This organization was founded after I realized the challenges faced by those released from prison. When meeting a friend at the Greyhound bus station after 22 years of incarceration, he arrived with only a release outfit, no money, and a trash bag containing his documents because no one could pick him up. He was grateful to see us; we helped him buy a ticket, provided food, gave him $100 since he wasn’t given the usual $35 credit card due to owing money for a medical procedure in prison.
After the joy at the station, reality set in on his first day of freedom. He faced immediate concerns—where to wash, brush his teeth, find clean clothes, and get food. Moving in with his brother, he was now reliant on family and friends for basic needs, which placed a significant burden on them, especially since no one could pick him up from prison.
Over the past year, I’ve met several men with nearly identical stories after release. While we’ve provided necessities, limited funding from small donations and my own savings has prevented us from meeting all their needs.
I started this organization to help provide necessities for those reentering society. They’ve served their time and should not face extra barriers that make starting over discouraging. We can support our community by offering a bridge to success.
GOTB Coalition will provide essential items including shower gel, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, a clothing store gift card, cell phone, meal for the trip home, and a Bible. This issue is larger than it seems and beyond one person’s resources. You can support by donating money or basic items; even small contributions make a difference.
Thank you and God Bless
Harry Childress
Harry Childress
GTOB Coalition Founder/CEO
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About Us
We provide returning citizens with the basic personal care items that they need as soon as they arrive home. Without these basic needs they find themselves already behind when it comes to getting a solid footing in their new reality.