Earlier this spring, a 62-year-old woman who spent 32 years behind bars got a set of car keys and a shot at independence, thanks to a South Shore nonprofit with roots in Ruskin.

Haven of Hope of Hillsborough president Janet Smith and board member Mary Huntington presented a 2009 Buick LaCrosse to Maggie Carr, a participant in the LEAP prison re-entry program in Miami, the Observer News reported in April. The vehicle had been donated by a Freedom Plaza resident in Sun City Center who no longer drives. After a few minor repairs, it was ready to hand over.

Carr was convicted of first-degree murder and served 32 years of a life sentence before being released on parole in October 2025 from Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, according to the report. She now lives in a LEAP residential home in Miami and works at the organization's Dragonfly Thrift Boutique, a social enterprise that employs formerly incarcerated women.

"I'm extremely grateful to Haven of Hope and the LEAP program for what they've done for me," Carr told the Observer News. "In all sincerity, I wouldn't be where I am today without their generosity, kindness and support."

She needed a car to widen her job options and gain more independence.

A Ruskin-born mission

Smith, a Sun City Center resident, founded Haven of Hope as a residential, faith-based ministry in Ruskin. The transitional home housed up to five women at a time as they re-entered life outside prison.

Before launching the nonprofit, Smith volunteered for four years at Hillsborough Correctional Institution in Balm, providing spiritual counseling and teaching pickleball until the facility closed in 2012.

"When I started there, I met so many ladies who were just jewels," Smith told the Observer News. "They were just like me except they'd had a bad upbringing or made bad choices."

Haven of Hope's Ruskin home closed in fall 2020, a casualty of the pandemic and what Smith described as other circumstances. But the organization shifted to a grant-giving model and kept working.

Grants totaling more than $50,000

Since the residential home closed, Haven of Hope has awarded grants totaling more than $50,000 to over 50 women, according to Smith. Grants cover needs like rental deposits, driver's license fees, fines, medical bills and even dentures.

To qualify, applicants must show they have a job, have changed their way of living, and demonstrate a need they cannot meet on their own. The four-member board reviews each request, and approved funds go directly to the entity owed or are reimbursed upon receipt.

How to help

Donations can be mailed to Haven of Hope, P.O. Box 5261, Sun City Center, FL 33571. For more information, email [email protected].

LEAP, the Miami-based Ladies Empowerment and Action Program, runs an eight-month, 300-hour re-entry curriculum combining life skills, entrepreneurship and mentorship. The program reports a 6% recidivism rate among its graduates, according to its website.