Jerry Blassingame is the Founder and CEO of Soteria Community Development Corporation. His story is powerful and needs to be heard. Jerry received a 20-year prison sentence in 1995 and only served 3 1/2 years after being paroled in 1999. His passion is assisting individuals who have been incarcerated through reentry and helping them to become productive citizens.

He endeavors to empower individuals and the community through education, affordable housing, financial literacy, community and economic development, and entrepreneurship. He is also a Social Entrepreneur who believes in social enterprise for the non-profit sector.  Jerry has continued to fight for change in legislation since he was granted a pardon in 2004. After 14 years of advocacy, South Carolina passed its first legislation to expunge felony drug charges in December of 2018.

Soteria:

https://soteriacdc.org/

Soteria Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/soteriacdc/