About Sponsors

At Sponsors, we know people can and do change.

Justice Reimagined

Sponsors transforms lives and strengthens the community by providing life-changing opportunities for people with conviction histories. Sponsors offers a broad range of services—housing, employment, counseling, and mentoring—that people need to be successful.

Located in Lane County, Oregon, the organization was founded in 1973 by Sister Janice Jackson, along with other Catholic nuns and community volunteers, who “sponsored” young men exiting the Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI). These volunteers met them at the gate upon their release and assisted them in finding shelter, employment, and helping in social readjustment. Beginning with five beds, Sponsors has since expanded its programs and evolved to four facilities with 128 beds. Our philosophy is based on the belief that people can and do change, and that a strategic intervention at the appropriate moment can serve as a catalyst in that change. Every year, our organization helps over 500 people re-enter our community to become productive, law-abiding, hardworking and tax-paying citizens. Sponsors is ever-evolving, constantly moving, and forwardly imagining. Join us in helping the people coming back from prison who are committed to making change.