Pauline Rogers

For 35 years Pauline Rogers, a criminal and social justice advocate and activist, has provided housing and other direct and supportive services to those reintegrating into society upon release from incarceration. Well before criminal justice was a sexy topic, Pauline spoke up against injustices in the depths of South Mississippi. A recent graduate from Morehouse School of Medicine as a Justice-Involved Care Life Coach, Pauline’s passion for equity continues.

Co-Founder of the Reaching and Educating for Community Hope (R.E.C.H.) Foundation and the D.I.S.H. (Dismantlers of Institutional Systematic Hazards) Movement, Pauline owns the 27-acre “Frederick and Pauline Rogers Reentry Campus” in South Jackson. This property includes the Wendy Hatcher Transitional Safe Home, named in honor of the former Chaplain of MS Department of Corrections—and Pauline’s mentor during her own incarceration. Pauline’s decades of work have transformed the lives of over 1,800 residents she has housed, and R.E.C.H. successfully holds a zero recidivism rate.

She co-labors with Frederick Rogers, her husband of 33 years, who also is formerly incarcerated. Pauline is undoubtedly—as described in her social media hashtags—a solutionist, a justice General, and an ingredient helping to create the best dish a person can serve to themselves and others.