TDLBC Story   

The Don’t Look Back Center (TDLBC) was created to empower socially and economically disadvantaged women and transwomen of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to obtain safety, restoration, leadership, courage, tenacity, and health. We consider all physical, emotional, social, and mental health conditions to effectively break the cycle of addictive patterns and unethical thinking to initiate change while developing life skills for restoration in all aspects of a woman’s life. We serve the needs of the most vulnerable people in our society; an organization would be hard-pressed to serve more vulnerable community members than we do. Our clients are all women, including transwomen, most of whom have recent criminal justice involvement and have experienced a variety of life traumas. We actively seek out this population in our community outreach work and refuse support to no one. Among our recent clients, a disproportionate number were victims of domestic violence, several were HIV+, and virtually all have housing instability.

(TDLBC) was founded in 2018 out of personal experience with the criminal justice system and substance use by Corinthiah Brown, she brings with her years of lived experience, having experienced the criminal justice system and substance use disorder herself. Brown served time in the Colorado Department of Corrections, and upon exiting the justice system, in October 1999 she has dedicated her life to helping others like herself overcome trauma and addiction. Brown has 23 yrs. in recovery, after completing parole, Brown obtained a degree and a CAS III and began working as a counselor. Today, Brown is a recovering crack addict, physical and sexual abuse survivor, and proud leader of the TDLBC, Trans Outreach Program (TOP), and Habilitation Empowerment Recovery (HER). We stand by our founder and our initial mission to help justice-involved women lead successful and fulfilling lives in the community.

Much of the DLBC’s success can be attributed to our willingness to lean into the community. TDLBC recognizes the need for safe, trauma-informed living spaces for those working to overcome the barriers to recovery. Thus, two years ago, the TDLBC opened the House of RAHAB, a transitional sober living home for women and transwomen. RAHAB has successfully provided a safe living space for women and transwomen ever since. Many members of the TDLBC board share Brown’s personal experiences with recovery, including Adam Abdullah who is the Mentoring Coordinator for Second Chance Center, and helped co-found the House of RAHAB. Board secretary, Jessica Young-Warren, is the Director of Program Operations at the Women’s Bean Project. This nonprofit provides chronically unemployed women with social enterprise skills to be self-sufficient. After graduating from the Women’s Bean Project in 1997, Brown recruited Young-Warren to the DLBC board. The TDLBC’s ability to make productive connections with community members to accomplish specific service-oriented goals is one of its greatest strengths. 

There exists a major gap in available services for women who identify as transgender. Our TOP program attempts to fill this gap by providing much needed resources and support to this population. While we cannot change the systemic issues fueling the inequities our clients face, we can overcome these barriers to service and get them the support they deserve. Similarly, few programs target Black women with justice involvement in a culturally responsive way. By incorporating HER into our daily programming we are able to reach this vulnerable population and work with them to counterbalance the inequities they face.

As mentioned above, DLBC serves the most marginalized and underserved members of our community. In addition to serving transgender women, people with criminal justice system involvement, Black Americans, and people with substance use disorder, we also serve those who are unemployed or experiencing housing insecurity. We estimate that 98% of our participants are homeless, in transitional housing, or living below the federal poverty line.

Our programs span recovery-oriented habilitation, street outreach, and traditional psychotherapy. providing participants with physical and mental health education, peer-to-peer support, and a sense of community. We also offer a food pantry, DUI/DWI classes, relapse prevention groups, Acu-detox treatments, and a volunteer intern program.

                                                                                 House of RAHAB 

After many years working as a counselor I learned that having a safe trauma informed place to live is necessary to overcome barriers to recovery, with this I opened House of RAHAB transitional sober living home for women and transwomen in September 2019. We collaborate with Re-entry, Parole, Probation, Human Services, Mental Health Centers ,Detox , City & County Jails and Self referrals. Supporting the process of rebuilding lives one woman at a time continuing to bridge the gap between impulse and action.