Hear our story behind our great organization.

TurnAround Village came into being in 1987 in the heart and mind of Rev. Blaine J. Gravel. Over the process of time Mr. Gravel, in 1998, began working part-time with the chaplain at Washington Correctional Institute (now Rayburn Correctional Center) in Angie, LA. He became a job placement specialist, employed by the DOC in 2002, to help ex-offenders find employment. When the DOC lost funding for his position, Gravel just continued to help men find jobs and the resources they needed and TurnAround Village became a reality. TurnAround Village has now provided a “faith-based” alternative to the Department of Corrections program that employed Mr. Gravel in 2002. Since beginning operations in 2003, TurnAround Village has provided guidance to hundreds of men. It can be something as simple as advising them by phone or giving them a ride from the prison to hand-holding through the trials and struggles of daily living. Operationally, TurnAround Village offers, job-readiness and placement, transportation to and from work, medical appointments, church, and other activities. Men are constantly evaluated and observed as they re-connect with the community. In 2005, TurnAround Village moved into a 5000 sqft. transitional facility in Washington Parish and since that time the re-arrest rate (recidivism rate) of TAV clients is 15.7%. This rate is much lower that the Louisiana average of 50% and the national average of up to 70%.

$13.00

This book of personal testimony and thoughtful instruction to the reader IS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO IS INCARCERATED!! We make it available here for a small fee which includes shipping to any inmate, anywhere in the United States.

Blaine J. Gravel is a licensed and ordained minister of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ affiliated with The Missionary Church International. Mr. Gravel is originally from the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania
but has lived in South Louisiana since relocating in 1982. After marrying way-up, he is a step-dad to two fine young men. His love for the
Word of God and the enlightenment gained from Christian books came partially from the years that he owned and operated a Christian Bookstore. He knows well that without faith it is impossible to please God, and "as you believe, so shall you receive. You don't understand your way to belief, you believe your way to understanding."