We work with the Texas Transitional Center, which is a network of regional reentry centers designed to provide a structured, supervised environment to help reintegrate ex-offenders into society. Many folks are never given the opportunity to gain a skill, so we try to give them that opportunity. We believe, that if you have breath in your lungs, you have a purpose.

The Texas Transitional Center is a network of regional residential reentry centers designed to reintegrate ex-offenders into society by providing a structured, supervised environment for those newly released from the prison system. Helping an underserved community find work and learn skills has turned into a “calling,” says Couch Potatoes co-founder Brian Morgan.

Couch Potatoes learned about correctional programs from the Texas Workplace Commission, through which we hire warehouse staff, factory workers, framers, upholsterers, assemblers, machine operators, painters and seamsters. In 2018, we began hiring skilled labor through Correctional Industries Initiative programs, which include ex-offenders from minimum- and maximum-security facilities. Today, Couch Potatoes offers job training so they can hire from a wider pool of candidates.

“We give our employees – who we consider and call family – the opportunity and guidance to change their lives, but they’re doing the rest,” says Morgan. “We want to stop the incarceration cycle, through them. It’s more than just hoping someone stays out of prison. We offer support that allows these people to share freely, to rebuild, grow in integrity and be proud of their work.”