Hudson Link's Year End Letter (2025) - A Letter from James T.

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Twenty-one years. That’s how long I spent incarcerated. For twenty-one years, the feelings of remorse, uncertainty, and fear were my constant companions. I didn’t know how to make amends, how to change, or what life would look like beyond the walls. I also didn’t know that a single opportunity could change everything.

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‍I arrived at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 2007 as a young man with no clear direction. In a place where hopelessness often reigns, I encountered something extraordinary: Hudson Link.

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Hudson Link showed me a path forward. I enrolled in Hudson Link’s college program, earning my Bachelor’s degree in 2019 and my Master’s from the New York Theological Seminary two years later. I was so moved by what I’d gained through the program that I immediately applied to help coordinate it. For four years, I served as a College Academic Associate inside Sing Sing, watching others transform as they encountered higher education for the first time. This journey didn’t end at graduation– it evolved into leadership, healing, and hope. Hudson Link didn’t just hand me a diploma– they walked with me into freedom.

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‍Upon my release I expected isolation, but the first things I experienced weren’t fear or rejection. They were open arms, guidance, and a future. That’s what Hudson Link does: it builds futures.

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Today, I live in Hudson Link’s New Beginnings transitional housing program, surrounded by support, purpose, and people who believe in me. From building the most robust reentry platform in the country, hosting speakers’ series behind the walls, and pioneering college programs in prison, this organization sets the standard. Our alumni are not just college graduates; they are changemakers, mentors, and proof that public safety improves when people are empowered.

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As we close out 2025, I ask you to stand with us. Your donation ensures that more students can experience the transformation I did. It fuels the ripple effect– one that touches families, communities, and society at large. Onemember of our Board of Directors believes so strongly in our mission that she has pledged $50,000 in matching funds for all donations made to our year-end campaign.Whatever you can give, know that it matters. It matters to the person sitting in a college classroom behind bars for the first time. It matters to the graduate stepping into the world with hope. And it matters to me.

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With gratitude and warm wishes,

James Torres

Class of '19 and New Beginnings Resident