After teaching himself how to code, Cleveland native Sterling Braden created an app to help people with felony convictions access resources and opportunities that are often hard to find. The app, called Friend A Felon, combines the purposes of job search sites, housing search sites, and social media apps into a single platform.
“It’s basically the resources needed for a smooth transition home from prison,” Braden said. “You can find jobs, housing, any kind of resources on the app. You can build a community for yourself if you don’t have a community, a support system. Pretty much a wraparound resource center for felons.”
People with criminal records face barriers to securing jobs and housing, often running into rejections from employers and property owners who avoid hiring them or renting to them. In 2018, formerly incarcerated people were nearly 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than those who have not been incarcerated, according to a 2018 report by criminal justice think tank Prison Policy Initiative, and a 2017 University of Michigan study found that job applicants without felony convictions were 60% more likely to get a call back than applicants with felony convictions.
Many formerly incarcerated people don’t know about the opportunities and resources that are available to them, said Braden, who understands the challenges personally because he has a felony conviction himself.
Meeting needs like housing and employment supports individuals’ well-being as they return to the community after incarceration, in turn preventing repeat offenses and improving safety, according to a 2021 Brookings report.
“If you give a felon opportunity, you’ll have a safer community,” Braden said.
Through the Friend A Felon app and nonprofit by the same name, he’s trying to connect people with criminal records to opportunities. He does this by finding job and apartment options and reentry resources through social media and crowdsourcing, then compiling these opportunities in a centralized location.
When he was 18, Braden was convicted of improperly discharging a firearm. He said he started Friend A Felon for a “selfish” reason, in hopes of getting his own record expunged. He created the nonprofit side of Friend A Felon in 2018 and then built the app, which launched in 2021. Helping other people through the app became his passion, he said.
“Friend A Felon is the first thing that I stuck with besides basketball,” Braden said. “I wake up every morning thinking about working on Friend A Felon. I might be sitting there watching TV and I might be into the show, but my brain is spinning thinking about what I gotta do with Friend A Felon.”
How the app works: jobs, housing, and reentry resources in one place
When users sign up for the app, they answer questions such as the type of felony conviction they have, their location, whether they have any restrictions (such as curfew, probation, or parole), and whether they have access to a car.
Employers and property owners who use the app specify their criteria, such as the types of convictions that they’d be willing to accept. Then, the app matches the workplaces and housing options with potential workers and tenants. The app is free for people seeking jobs and housing and for reentry support organizations. Currently, employers and property owners pay up to $200 a month to post listings, depending on factors like the size of the company. Braden is in the process of figuring out a new pricing plan, which he plans to release this month.
To attract employers, Friend A Felon promotes incentives like the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for employers who hire workers from groups facing barriers to employment and the Federal Bonding Program, a U.S. Department of Labor initiative that provides bonds to pay for the first six months of a worker’s employment.
So far, about 135 employers based all over the U.S. have signed on to Friend A Felon.
Finding housing opportunities has been more of a challenge, Braden said, with about 11 property owners participating. He does not currently have incentives in place for property owners but is working on creating a bond program to improve access to housing for people with felonies.
The two primary needs that the app focuses on — jobs and housing — are connected because having a place to live is essential for someone to be able to hold down a job, Braden said.
The app also has a forum where users, including both reentry support organizations and people looking for jobs and housing, can ask questions and share resources. With the app’s next update, Braden is adding a messaging feature and a way to share short videos like TikToks or Instagram Reels.
“I don’t have to be the only conduit of information and resources because there are a lot of people out there who want to help,” Braden said. “That’s really what I was trying to do with this whole thing, is bring everybody together in one place.”
Friend A Felon has about 8,200 users on its platform and has impacted over 800 people’s lives, Braden said. (Cleveland makes up about a quarter of the app’s user base. Braden lives in Columbus but said he spends about four or five days a week in Cleveland, where he grew up.)
The number of lives at stake is what has motivated him to keep working on the app, he said.
The tech founder is currently working on a web version of the two-year-old app, which will create a computer-friendly sign-on process for employers and property owners. He also has an update to the mobile app in the works, which will change its look and interface. Braden plans to launch the updates on June 17 or 18, shortly before he heads to Minneapolis to speak at the OnRamp Education and Workforce Innovation Conference at Allianz Field on June 21.
Helping people make a change in their lives
Keisha Robertson, who lives in Strongsville, learned about the app from Instagram and downloaded it in February 2022. “I’ve had a hard time, for a long time, finding a job … I just started to browse (on the app) and started to apply for whatever I thought would possibly accept me,” Robertson said.
One of those applications led to her starting a job at a call center in August 2022.
Robertson has referred others to the app because it helps people who are often looked down upon and not given a chance, she said.
Another app user, Jamal Green, decided to download the app two months ago, after hearing other people talk about it. Within two weeks, he found a job with Two Men and a Truck moving company. Braden reached out to Green personally to check in, even asking him if he needed a suit for his job interview, Green said.
Without Friend A Felon, Green said he doesn’t think he would have a job right now. “It’s a one of a kind app. I wish they would have had something like this sooner,” he said. Green, who lives in Cleveland’s St. Clair-Superior neighborhood, has also spread the word about Friend A Felon to some of his friends, who have landed jobs through the app, too, he said.
“That’s what I’m most passionate about, is to help other people,” Braden said. “I’ve been blessed 10 times over since I started helping people. My life has completely changed.”
Future funding
Braden didn’t know the details of how to run a business when he started the app. He said he was honest about what he didn’t know and would often ask others to share their knowledge. He eventually met Camille Heard, the entrepreneur in residence at JumpStart, a nonprofit that offers business support and resources. Heard helped Braden work through issues and brainstorm ideas.
In April, Miami University’s Social Impact Fund invested $25,000 in Friend A Felon, and it plans to invest an additional $25,000 in the app next semester, Braden said.
Before that, Braden said he had received numerous rejections for funding. One funder said it would invest in Friend A Felon if the company changed its name, removing the word “felon.” Braden decided not to make the change and to pass on that funding.
Even though he hasn’t been in trouble for over a decade, Braden said that he’s had to deal with people not trusting him and not wanting to associate with him.
But he said he’s “living proof” that people with felony convictions can improve their lives when they receive opportunities and resources.
“I’m just trying to be the change that I want to see. Simple as that. People close to the problem are close to the solution,” he said. “I want to show that just because you’re a convicted felon don’t mean that your life is over. You’re not defined by that.”
Visit Friend A Felon’s website to learn more or download the app. Follow the Friend A Felon on Instagram here and TikTok here. You can contact Sterling Braden at [email protected] or 216-301-6292.
