About Us
Development, Change, Advancement, Growth, Rise, & Progress
Bringing the inside to the outside... one woman at a time, one step at a time
Founded in 2018, Evolution Reentry Services a 501(c)(3) nonprofit is a comprehensive Criminal Justice services organization that is committed to helping returning women and their families rebuild their lives…one woman at a time.
Evolution Reentry Services, through its unique and nationally unduplicated non-violent Reentry Services and its coordinated and collaborative partnerships with numerous statewide agencies/community service providers and organizations, is building and routinizing a non-violent felon community-based reentry platform that will provide for a smooth and seamless transition into society for all women convicted of a non-violent felony, whether currently in prison, coming directly from incarceration or already residing within the community.
By pulling together all resources, organizations, and programs into one coordinated effort, Evolution Reentry Services is re-inventing reentry with a stronger service model for those with criminal backgrounds. Through this model, Evolution Reentry Services is dedicated to helping returning citizens rebuild their lives through support with employment, education, finances, and homeownership…breaking down the stigma related to having a flawed background.
Headquartered in Connecticut, with an office in Branford, Evolution Reentry Services is dedicated to continuing to expand its vast network for returning citizens throughout the country every year. This reentry initiative encourages service providers and State stakeholders to focus on providing long-term solutions to complex issues related to successful community reintegration for a unique returning citizen that otherwise would not have any support network.
A key to the success of Evolution is change, development, growth, rise and progress. We are dedicated to that personal Evolution by educating the community on how to help women successfully reenter society. In particular, Evolution Reentry Services stresses the importance of helping women returning from incarceration in rebuilding all aspects of their lives working toward ultimate freedom.
ImpaCTful women award
Our Team
Jacqueline Purcell, MBA, MSW, MSCJ
Executive Director
Bill Livolsi
Volunteer Support Specialist Justice-Impacted Family members
Maria Caceres
Director of Spanish speaking support services
Alexa Polverari, MBA
Director of Operations | Support Services for Children of Justice-Impacted Parents
Gina Pendergraph
Director of Support Services
David Polverari
Support Services Specialist Husbands of Incarcerated Women
Rev. Dr. Joseph Ciccone
Lead Pastor, Saint Joseph Mission Church
Jacqueline Purcell, MBA, MSW, MSCJ
Executive Director
Jacqueline Purcell, founder of Evolution Reentry Services is a leader with proven successes in criminal justice and research services. Her experience working with trauma in the criminal justice field culminated through her personal journey over a decade ago. She has since used her professional expertise in business, social work and research, dedicating herself to reinventing reentry and the policies and practices affecting justice impacted individuals. Jacqueline focuses on Criminal Justice Reentry Services specializing in rebuilding lives through employment, housing and education after incarceration. As a property title researcher for the past 30 years and serves as an expert witness on several complex property disputes. She founded wealth-entry as the only expert in the country focusing on retaining homeownership and wealth through the criminal justice legal system. She has been a featured keynote speaker at several criminal justice, psychology and property title conferences throughout the country. She is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), National Criminal Justice Association (NCJA), Women’s White Collar Defense Association (WWCDA), American Land Title Association (ALTA), Connecticut Land Title Association (CLTA), New England Land Title Association (NELTA), American Bar Association (ABA), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and a Connecticut Notary Public.
Bill Livolsi
Volunteer Support Specialist | Justice-Impacted Family Members
We are honored to have Bill join Evolution Reentry Services volunteering his time to our support group for family members of justice-impacted individuals. As a father and husband, Bill faced prosecution for a white-collar crime and served time in a federal prison, while navigating the complexity of family matters. Bill intimately understands the anxiety, anger, shame, and questions that might be consuming family members. Bill has navigated the intricate challenges of the legal system and is successfully rebuilding a life of purpose. Bill, the founder of White-Collar Coaching (WCC) and firmly believes in working with families as they face their own unique challenges with having a loved one incarcerated.
Maria Caceres
Director of Spanish speaking support services
Maria recently joined Evolution Reentry Services as our Director of Support Services. For over a decade, Maria’s tightly held beliefs in redemption and access to second chances have kept her tethered to the criminal justice community. Initially, Maria was herself intertwined within the system and found that she wanted to help women who felt isolated and alone while going through such a traumatic journey. She has been volunteering as a Support Specialist since 2019 and has been an amazing asset to Evolution Reentry Services helping countless women through their own experience. Maria knows the key to success in reentry is to have support and a community that is uplifting. Maria also believes in mentorship as individuals navigate the emotions and grief through the criminal justice system. We are excited to welcome Maria as she builds new programs and oversees our current online support groups.
Alexa Polverari, MBA
Support Services for Children of Incarcerated Parents
Alexa joined Evolution Reentry Services as the first young woman in the country to provide support services for children of men and women who are going through the criminal justice system. Alexa is uniquely equipped to help children & young adult women whose mothers or fathers have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System. From her own personal various emotions and stages of grief she encountered while a teenager into her college years when experiencing the collateral damage to children who have a parent going through the legal system, she is able to provide a one-of-a kind peer support. Only someone who has been through such trauma could understand the loss a child or young adult feels when there is a separation due to parental incarceration. Alexa earned her Masters Degree in Business Administration at Nichols College and coaches high school softball in her spare time.
Marie Purcell
Support Services for Mothers of Incarcerated Women
How do we relate when an adult child faces incarceration? It’s painful and devastating for a mother and leaves confusing emotions with feelings of emptiness, despair, heartbreak leaving isolation. Marie joins Evolution Reentry Services helping Mother’s navigate their own journey of the loss of an adult child to incarceration while also moving forward. Marie has dedicated her life to working with mothers after she experienced the legal system as a parent and losing her own adult child for a period of time to incarceration. She helps women support their adult children through sentencing and incarceration and probation and knows the feeling of isolation, despair, heartbreak, and not feeling you can talk about it to anyone. Marie has decided to dedicate her life to helping other Mother’s navigate the legal system while maintaining good mental health.
Gina Pendergraph
Director of Support Services
Gina Pendergraph joined Evolution Reentry Services in 2023. Since beginning her justice-impacted journey, Gina had proved to be a resilient individual dedicating herself to helping women, holding an ACC certification from the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Additionally, she is tenaciously working towards earning her yoga teacher, reiki and guided meditation credentials, wholeheartedly believing in a holistic approach for healing the mind, body and soul. Having gained a profound understanding of trauma, she leverages her coaching, meditation, and yoga skills to support individuals, particularly those in the justice-impacted and recovery communities. She considers those essential steps toward reclaiming one’s narrative from the grip of trauma by emphasizing the importance of acceptance and understanding. Advocating for the liberating power of forgiveness, starting with oneself, Gina recognizes that we must forgive ourselves before helping others. Rounding out her personal life, she finds enrichment as a spouse, with grown children, adolescent grandchildren and pets. Gina’s support begins by sharing together the journey towards healing and personal growth.
David Polverari
Support Services for Husbands of Incarcerated Women
David joined the Evolution team after he experienced the unique emotions and grief that a husband feels when their wife is incarcerated. Every year, an estimated 2 million couples in the US vow to stick together “for better or for worse” but what happens when the “worse” part of the marriage unexpectedly includes your wife serving a prison sentence? Suddenly the usual relationship hurdles are stacked up against forced separation, monitored phone calls and rare physical contact. And that is not to mention the immense stigma that comes with being involved with someone who’s been convicted of a crime, especially if that person is your wife. David is able to give a rare opportunity to other men who experience the loss of their wife due to incarceration. David is the first man in the country that now dedicates his life in mentoring men navigate the criminal justice system giving unique unprecedented support.
Rev. Dr. Joseph Ciccone
Lead Pastor, Saint Joseph Mission Church
Fr. “Joe” is a Priest in the Order of Franciscan Servants and a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a Master of Divinity Degree in Ministry and Pastoral Care. He is currently assigned to Saint Joseph Mission Church, bringing the Gospel to those in the margins and to people in need wherever they may be. Joe is in his 6th year of CPE (Chaplain Program) at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC. And prior to that he spent four years at Saint Miriam Friary in PA where he was ordained after his own trauma related experience with the criminal justice system. Fr. Joe’s mission on the Move began in New Jersey in 2016, accepting all people without judgement. Thus far Fr. Joe has married nearly 400 couples, Baptized so many of the children and some of the couples has married. He makes countless hospital visits and gives the anointing of the sick, brings the sacraments to the home bound, the lost and broken and those who needs God’s love but have been hurt by the traditional church. Fr. Joe has dedicated his life to helping those across the globe, and is indeed a mission moving everywhere.