In the News

Two powerful stories on the power of perseverance and redemption, and the role REDF and employment social enterprise played. Narrated by Rob Lowe, featuring Brandon Smith, Co-Founder of Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program and Nyeshia Brunson of Civicworks.

After Brandon N. Smith was imprisoned for the ninth time, he found himself at a crossroads. That’s when he learned about the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) conservation campfire crews, which allows inmates to train as firefighters.

Brandon Smith is a formerly incarcerated wildland firefighter working to dismantle the prison-industrial complex—by training others like him to fight wildfires. He shares his story on The Frontline.

California is on fire right now. Even if you read this at some point in the future, it is getting increasingly likely that the previous sentence will still be true.

Baratunde explores his adopted hometown of Los Angeles to learn how Angelinos connect with the outdoors in their sprawling city. From kayakers saving a polluted river to urban gardens nourishing a community, and Black surfers claiming their place on the waves - even as climate change brings on the sharks - preserving access to outdoor LA is something worth fighting for.

Two firefighters were honored on Friday for their nonprofit work that helps give people second chances.

More than two dozen new Southland wildland firefighters graduated from a special program Saturday that's helping make the difference in more ways than one.

Among the graduates were formerly incarcerated firefighters. Twenty-seven men and women graduated from the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program in Altadena.

DALLAS, March 17, 2022 –To sustainably address the social and economic impediments to health equity, the American Heart Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, today announced four Los Angeles-based organizations and social enterprises focused on improving mental health, food insecurity and economic equity will receive $465,000 in grant and convertible equity funding from the Association’s Social Impact Fund.

Firefighter Gabriel Perez has dedicated his life to keeping Californians safe from wildfires, a calling that has given him a renewed sense of purpose and an opportunity to be of service to his community.

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., February 17, 2022 /3BL Media/ - Today, Verizon announced the three winners of its inaugural Climate Resilience Prize at the GreenBiz22 conference, awarding a prize pool of $500,000 to help scale proven, in-market solutions that are focused on mitigating the disproportionate impacts of climate change in vulnerable communities.

Hyfi, the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, and Coral Vita share in the spoils of prize aimed at scaling solutions to reduce risks posed to communities from climate impacts

Each year, Irvine’s Leadership Awards recognize innovative leaders whose breakthrough solutions to critical state challenges improve lives, create opportunity, and contribute to a better California. In addition to spotlighting exemplary leaders whose work benefits the people of California, The James Irvine Foundation provides each recipient’s organization with a grant of $250,000 to support their work.

Brandon Smith and Royal Ramey met while incarcerated at Bautista Conservation Camp, one of the 35 fire camps in California.

Chuy Hernandez turned 18 when he was at Pine Grove Youth Conservation Camp (PGYCC), the only remaining “fire camp” for incarcerated youth in California. He’d spent the previous six months working with the kitchen crew, until he was legally old enough to work as a wildland firefighter.

"The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, also known as FFRP, is a nonprofit organization that helps the people who are currently and formerly incarcerated in California's fire camps, transition into gainful employment as firefighters once they come home," said co-founder Brandon Smith.

The state's desperate pleas for firefighters overlooks the fact that institutional barriers are preventing thousands of formerly incarcerated women and people of color with firefighting experience from working as full-time professional firefighters.

In California’s most catastrophic wildfire season yet, an organization is challenging the state to hire firefighters who were previously incarcerated to help meet public safety needs.

In 2012, Brandon Smith was three years into serving a prison sentence at Wasco State Prison. Smith grew up in Altadena, nestled in the San Gabriel Mountains, but says that he never really thought about firefighting.

As California faces a devastating wildfire season, a firefighter shortage has brought renewed attention to the state’s dependence upon prison labor in battling the blazes. Now, some formerly incarcerated firefighters are calling for a review into how California values its prison firefighters.

California firefighters have been battling unprecedented blazes and staffing shortages this wildfire season. Before the pandemic, thousands of the state’s wildfire crews came from state prisons—incarcerated people make around $1 an hour containing fires, clearing brush, and doing other dangerous labor. But since COVID, many incarcerated firefighters have been released early.