Witness Our Humanity
After Incarceration is a community organization in Newburgh, New York, led by people who have lived what we organize around.
After Incarceration is a community organization based in Newburgh, New York, founded and led by currently and formerly incarcerated people. We run three core programs — Pilgrimage to Peace, Freed to Feed, and Project RISE — grounded in Kingian Nonviolence. Our work supports people coming home and organizes against the harms of the criminal legal system. We are fiscally sponsored by Movement Strategy Center.
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Led By Lived Experience
This work is designed and run by people who have lived it. Our staff carry more than a century of combined lived prison experience. That's not a line on a grant application. It's why the work works.
Founder and Director
Jose Pineda
Jose served 21 years in New York State prisons before founding After Incarceration. He leads Pilgrimage to Peace and oversees all programs.
Credible Messenger
Starkim
Credible Messenger
Kenyatta Emmanuel Hughes
What We Do
Three programs. One theory. Countless walks home.
Pilgrimage to Peace
An annual bilingual journey and Kingian Nonviolence training. Participants walk together, train together, and return to their communities as nonviolence practitioners.
Freed to Feed
Every week, we deliver fresh produce to parole offices so people leaving appointments don't leave hungry. It's nourishment. It's dignity. It's also how we stay present where the system is most cold.
Project RISE
Kingian Nonviolence workshops in schools and reentry programs across New York's Hudson Valley. Funded by the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services. Now in Year 3.
How We Do It
We aim our victories at systems, not people.
Kingian Nonviolence teaches that conflict is unavoidable — and that we can fight without destroying each other. We apply it everywhere: in restorative circles, on marches, at tables with prosecutors and parole officers.
The person across from us is not the enemy. The system that shaped us both is.
We love our enemies by remaining rooted in truth. We build invulnerability before engagement. We aim for victories that are structural, not emotional.
That's how we stay in the work for decades instead of months.
Current Campaigns
The legal architecture of incarceration is not permanent. We're here to change it.
We organize and advocate on four fronts. Each one has a specific ask. Click any campaign to find the action you can take today.
Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA)
Support the repeal of exhaustion requirements that block incarcerated people from accessing federal courts.
Fair & Timely Parole
Tell New York State to end unnecessary parole denials based on the nature of the original offense.
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Elder Parole
Pass S.2423 / A.2035 to grant parole hearings to people 55+ who have served 15+ years."
End Guard Brutality
If you are coming home,
we built something for you.
Our mobile app is for currently and formerly incarcerated people — people inside, people coming home, and the families walking alongside them. It connects you to resources, peer support, and the After Incarceration community.
Download it on your phone. Share it with someone who needs it.
In their own words.
We don't speak for people. We make sure they are heard.
Our work is made possible by
