Haki Sekou is a formerly incarcerated human being. He spent 41 years, 7 months, and 10 days at Angola Louisiana State Penitentiary. Like countless others, Sekou found incarceration to be a traumatic experience not only for himself but for his family members and close friends. On July 25, 2018, he was released from Angola into a transitional housing unit run by VOTE's partner organization, The First 72+. Filled with excitement and high expectations, he couldn’t wait to fly.

Sekou hit the ground running, trying to find employment and housing. Because he had finished his time, he expected equal opportunity, but what he encountered made him realize that his expectations for of reentry and its reality were not the same. Legal discrimination by business owners and landlords turned his excitement and expectations into concerns and confusion. A lack of stable housing, employment, and social support filled him with doubt and despair, as well as stress and depression. He encountered illogical rules enforced by housing authorities such as needing to be home for at least two years before one can be approved for a decent place to live.

Knowing that such rules and legal oppression is defeats the purpose of reentry, Sekou starting organizing with the FIP Peer Support group and VOTE. Now he joins our team as a Community Health Worker, advocating for the medical rights of people with convictions.

Danielle Metz was born in uptown New Orleans. She was incarcerated for 23 years on a triple life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. In August 2016, her conviction was commuted by President Obama as part of his clemency initiative to address unfair sentencing practices that began during the War on Drugs era. Now back at home, Danielle is re-engaging her community as the Community Health Worker for the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Clinic. The clinic offer Medicaid enrollment, screening for medical illnesses, job referrals, motivation and moral support for returning citizens.

When she's not busy serving people at the clinic, Danielle travels through the nation sharing her story at events and universities. She has received numerous awards, including the Joseph Massenburg Role Model of the Year Award for her volunteerism and mentorship and the Clinical Support Award from the Tulane School of Medicine. Danielle knows that addressing the health issues of FIP is crucial to decreasing recidivism and creating true criminal justice reform. She's dedicated to giving a voice to those on the inside who are rarely ever heard and mostly forgotten. She vows to sit in on their behalf until they are free. "Until we shed some light on the grave injustices that plague our America, we’re all in prison!" she says. "Prison is a state of mind first and foremost."

Danielle's goal is to make sure every person coming home gets access to adequate health care: something they were deprived of while incarcerated.

Anjali Niyogi is the founder and director of the FIT Clinic Program. Working at a community hospital contracted by the Department of Corrections (DOC), Dr. Anjali has always provided medical care for incarcerated individuals. However, it was not until one day when a medical student asked her "what happens when people get out", that she began to understand the serious neglect to health services for formerly incarcerated persons. This led her to start the Formerly Incarcerated Transitions (FIT) Clinic to minimize health related barriers during reentry.

Vid Raturi is a Graduate Research Assistant at the FIT Clinic. She is currently a medical student at Tulane University School of Medicine. Simultaneously, she is pursuing her MPH in International Health and Sustainable Development at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She completed her B.S. and M.S. in Neuroscience. Most recently, she completed her M.S. in Bioethics and Medical Humanities, in which she focused on healthcare for justice impacted individuals. Volunteering with the Petey Greene Program, Vid supported the academic goals of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people through tutoring and mentorship. She also served as President of the Newcomb Prison Project, in which she worked on advocacy and service efforts with several organizations in New Orleans focused on bettering the lives of justice impacted individuals. Due to her commitment to serving the community, she was awarded two prestigious university wide Crest Awards: the James F. Kilroy Provost Award and the Dean Donald R. Moore Award. Further, she is a Pincus Scholar through the Violence Prevention Institute and is focusing her efforts on addressing the cyclical nature of trauma, violence, and incarceration. After completing her education, she plans on using her medical training to provide high quality care for justice impacted persons and affect large scale change through policy efforts.