The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department recently held its first Mentoring Panel, a new program spearheaded by Director of Reentry and Workforce Development, Karla Acevedo. The goal of the Mentoring Panel is to empower returning citizens to take control of their lives upon release by providing them with living examples of people who have previously “walked in their shoes” and have been able to achieve success. This particular panel consisted of a group of men who were previously incarcerated under SCSD jurisdiction and in other facilities and have since turned their lives around, in addition to professionals from organizations across the Commonwealth. The returning citizens on the panel each shared their stories of struggle, survival, and success.