Serving up lunch at the Take 2 Cafe in downtown Tulsa, Assistant Manager Jackie Garcia is their best seller.
Every order a serving of help with a side of encouragement.
Take 2 offers women just released from prison the ingredients they need to start over:
A job, new work, social skills and a place to live.
"Drugs controlled every aspect of my life before I went to prison," Garcia said. "It was my every waking thought - last thought before I went to bed."
She will tell you... It took going to prison - and losing her children - to make her change.
While in prison, she had to prove she was ready and apply to get into the program.
Deidra Kirtley, Executive Director of Resonance Center for Women hopes people, employers especially, see the success here and change their perception of women with a felony record.
"They messed up at one point in their life and they deserve a second chance," Kirtley said. "They want to be successful just as much as everyone else wants them to be successful, but oftentimes we don't give them a chance to do that."
Now a manager, Garcia hopes to help other women scrub away the past and find their way to work hard and follow their dreams.
"To watch them grow is amazing because I was like - that was me!" Garcia said. "It's changed my life."
Take 2 - changing lives one order at a time.
