Although the True Freedom Foundation (TFF) only began operations in January of 2008 with minimal funding and resources, we should soon have five programs functioning on a small scale for creating inner peace and safer communities. In addition to our efforts to help give incarcerated individuals effective tools for personal transformation, we also have two programs to help prevent our youth from turning toward a life of drugs and crime, and we hope to begin soon a program that offers people being released from prison the greatest chance for living a successful, ethical, drug-free life. Below you will find descriptions of our programs. THE HOUSE OF PEACE The House of Peace, which we hope to begin in 2009, is a residential center for training in the art of true happiness and freedom. The House of Peace offers daily, group practice to anyone interested in realizing true happiness and freedom. The House of Peace also offers the possibility of residency to anyone interested in devoting themselves to realizing true happiness and freedom. For people who are being released from prison, we offer an affordable, positive environment in which to live provided that these people agree contractually to train diligently in the practice of Intentional Living, live intoxicant free, do community service, and comply with a curfew. While training at the House of Peace, participants will develop, via the practice of Intentional Living, essential life skills, such as stress management, impulse control, emotional management, managing addiction, and effective communication skills. They will have a resident teacher, Matthew Tenney, who models and offers daily guidance for successful practice. Thus, in addition to the benefits of offering people an assured place to live that is far removed from their old environment, there is a tremendous opportunity for deep, lasting personal transformation. The practice of Intentional Living allows people to transcend suffering and realize deep peace and satisfaction in life. People who advance along the path in this way are not only no longer threats to society, but moral leaders of society. They become living examples of peace, kindness, and compassion, who affect each person they meet. In our efforts to keep young people from turning toward a life of crime and drugs, we began the True Happiness and Freedom for Youth program. The program was first offered at the PACE Center for Girls, where it ran for nine months. Via this program, we aim to give young people, especially at-risk youth, practical, concrete tools for realizing deep peace and satisfaction in life, and help them to have the personal insight that drugs and crime will only lead to suffering for them. We hope to one day have day-long True Freedom Retreats, and perhaps longer retreats in a camp setting. PRISON PROGRAM BOOKS The TFF began its work with the True Happiness and Freedom for Incarcerated Individuals program. Via this program, we work to help incarcerated individuals turn their prison into a training center for deep, personal transformation. We send free copies of A Practical Guide to True Happiness and Freedom to people inside the walls. The book offers people, via the practice of Intentional Living, concrete tools for managing difficult emotions, controlling impulsive behavior, and realizing that an ethical, drug-free lifestyle is absolutely essential for realizing true happiness. Evidence of the effectiveness of this book can be found on our Home Page. To date, the TFF has facilitated the donation of nearly 1500 copies of A Practical Guide to True Happiness and Freedom. We also correspond with a number of incarcerated individuals in order to offer them one-on-one guidance in the practice of Intentional Living. THEORY BEHIND THE PRISON PROGRAM According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, as of METHODOLOGY 1) The model must help the individual to directly realize for her/himself that ethical behavior is absolutely essential for her/his own personal happiness. This results in a high level of motivation to put effort into personal transformation.
2) Many people who do aspire to behave ethically fail in their efforts because they cannot break free from the pull of habitual thinking patterns, or manage difficult emotions, like anger, and the impulsive actions that result from such strong emotions. The model must give these people effective methods to help them break free. The practice of Intentional Living allows people to a) realize true happiness and freedom in their lives; b) directly see for themselves that ethical behavior and emotional management are absolutely essential for realizing true happiness and freedom; and c) break free from the pull of habitual thinking patterns, and effectively manage impulsive actions and even the most difficult emotional states.
PROGRAMS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC
TALKS AND THE BOOK
In an effort to help all people realize true happiness and freedom we offer the book A Practical Guide to True Happiness and Freedom on a donation basis to anyone who asks for a copy. Please visit the Contact Us page for more details. We also offer free public talks to anyone who requests one. If you would like to schedule a presentation on the art of true happiness and freedom, please visit the Contact Us page.
YOUTH PROGRAM
THE TRUE HAPPINESS AND FREEDOM PROGRAM
THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR PROGRAM
Currently running as a pilot program at the Reichert House in Gainesville, FL, the Ultimate Warrior program utilizes the non-violent yet very effective art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) to encourage teenage boys to participate in constructive after-school programs already offered in the community, and offers them the possibility of realizing true happiness and freedom. By learning and practicing BJJ, these young men will have a constructive outlet for aggression and excess energy, learn to successfully defend themselves, and gain increased self-confidence and physical fitness. Gradually, participants will learn that the Ultimate Warrior is not the one who has mastered the martial arts, but the one who has mastered one's own mind. They will see that once one has mastered the mind, true happiness and freedom result and that nothing in the world can touch such an Ultimate Warrior.
TALKS
In the near future, we hope to be able to provide presentations to prison populations. In these presentations, Matthew would share his story and a bit about realizing true happiness in freedom in prison, in an effort to inspire incarcerated individuals to take advantage of their time in confinement as an opportunity to realize freedom from the behaviors and mental constructs that keep us bound to suffering.
PHILOSOPHY
We believe - based on statistical evidence and personally witnessing some amazing examples of personal transformation - that given the proper vehicle for self improvement, incarcerated individuals can certainly change and become productive, law-abiding members of society. In fact, we believe that incarcerated individuals can actually become leaders in transforming our society. This is because incarcerated individuals have an opportunity that most people are never given. Separated from today's fast-paced, dog-eat-dog society, incarcerated individuals have the opportunity to turn their prison into a training ground for personal transformation.
We believe that the most effective model for rehabilitation focuses on helping a person to transcend suffering and realize peace, and includes two essential ingredients:
