La La Anthony is creating an impact in her hometown of New York City, NY, through her foundation, La La Land Foundation and its ThreeSixty program.
According to ThreeSixty’s website, the TV personality, actress, and entrepreneur’s foundation launched ThreeSixty as a program to support young men aged 18 to 21 who are incarcerated at Rikers Island, which has been described as “America’s most notorious jail.” The rehabilitation program provides legal services including connecting the men with lawyers and making court appearances on their behalf.
In addition, ThreeSixty has workshops that focus on resume-building, work-training, and life skills.
In an interview with People, Anthony detailed how her initiative has created life-changing opportunities. She shared with the outlet that after less than a year of being released from Rikers Island, a formerly incarcerated individual, who had been mentored by ThreeSixty, received a full scholarship to study at Columbia University.
“It’s really amazing to see that when you take them out of jail and put them in the right environment, with the right opportunities and love and support, incredible things can happen,” Anthony said, according to the outlet.
A part of Anthony’s commitment and passion for her rehabilitation program is her understanding of the young men’s unfortunate reality in the system due to uninformed, poor decisions.
“At this age they are still so young,” Anthony said. “When you talk to them, especially if you have your own kids, you just become so much more compassionate. It feels like any one of our kids could be one bad decision away from being in a similar situation.”
The overall goal that drives Anthony and her nonprofit’s team is for the incarcerated men to have a successful reentry into society. A significant factor to make that happen is helping formerly incarcerated individuals land jobs so they can provide for themselves. To make it a smoother transition, ThreeSixty partnered with Reform Alliance, a nonprofit that works to transform probation and parole, to offer job fairs and job opportunities, per its website.
“We want them to be prepared with certain skills so they can really get out there and back into life and into the workforce after release,” Anthony shared with People.
The ThreeSixty website also states that the nonprofit offers mental health support and leadership and enrichment programs as well as stays in touch with the young men throughout their incarceration, even if they move out of state.
