ExodusFoundation.org

Year Founded
1999
EIN
56-2163753
Local Leader/Exec. Director
Madeline McClenney, Ph.D
Primary Contact Name
public contact
Main Address

13016 Eastfield Road
Suite 200-214
Huntersville, NC 28078
United States

Physical Address
Virtual Office
Charlotte, NC
United States

What We Do

Exodus Foundation.org was founded in 1999 by minister to the unhoused in D.C.,  Rev. Dr. Madeline McClenney.  After completing a business degree in Finance from Howard University and Master of Divinity, Dr. McClenney completed a Ph.D. in Hebrew Scriptures at Duke University minoring in Islamic Law and Women's Studies.   She has turned down a combined $2 million in income from tenure track offers over the past twenty years to answer the call to serve formerly incarcerated persons.  She serves as the President and Board Chair.

Exodus Foundation.org is a movement to transform global public mental health and safety through highly trained mentors for people impacted by jails and prison systems. Our local mission is to stop the flow of African-Americans to prison. Nationally, our mission is to stop the flow of all Americans to prison. Our banner program, the Red Sea Crossings Mentoring and Scholarship program matches trained volunteers who are culturally competent with formerly incarcerated persons. We are unique in Charlotte and the nation because we provide 24 hour customized mentoring. Our mentors are life navigators who make a one year renewable commitment to go on a journey with a ready-for-success returning citizen who has paid his or her dues yet faces legalized discrimination in housing, employment, education and voting. Our mentees set their goals, and we help them achieve them in the workplace, educational settings and entrepreneurship. The staff supports the match with referrals to needed services. We provide career networking support groups, group mentoring for those on our waiting list, and in 2018 we added the Interview Readiness Camps. We are a loving, compassionate Christian faith based 501c3 operating foundation. We serve people of all faiths or no faith at all.

Updated: IMPACT OF COVID-19 - SPECIFIC NEEDS: Since February of 2020, we have sought to establish a residential version of the mentoring program in order to respond to a disastrous lack of housing for people with records and to assist our state in releasing men and women from covid cages. Please contact President McClenney at 704-947-9090 x101 or exodus@exodusfoundation.org to learn how you can help us with this initiative.

Black Philanthropy Month Do we need your support? Yes, we do! Past support has accomplished the following during the Covid Pandemic: --Provided 24-hour support in mentoring relationships leading to job placements, housing search ass, eviction avoidance, educational pursuits and training, family support, and court support for 10 mentees. -Served over 100 people with our trauma care focused Restoration, Redemption and ReEnry Conference in 2020 online. -After a five year effort, secured clemency for Robert "Wize" Green on January 6, 2022 who otherwise faced a 39 year sentence for un-violent crimes. -Helped launch the Ending Mass Incarceration National Interfaith Network with two online events with Calling All Crows reaching over 3000 directly impacted persons and their families. -Distributed over 600 care packages to N.C. state prisons. -Coached two Bennett Belle interns focusing on criminal justice careers. -Expansion of partnerships and concept design for a residential version of the mentoring program. -Infrastructure and branding upgrades. ---and more... Volunteer Priorities: 50 new volunteers to assist with the National Summit on Mass Incarceration Oct. 19-22, 2022 Funding Priorities: Where can you help? 1) Red Sea Crossings Mentoring Program - Seeking 600 donors giving $10 monthly for three years. 2) Help us in our ongoing campaign to raise $1.5 million ($500,000 a year for three years) to scale our award winning mentoring program so that Exodus Mentors who are culturally competent life navigators and career developers, can be trained online, matched and supervised to support released former prisoners remotely and in person in the community. Once we have attained an infusion of financial resources, we will be ready immediately to hire 7 staff persons and scale locally. This campgain is our primary major gift focus and the Sarscov2 crisis and long-covid makes our services needed more than ever. 3) Longterm: Endowment building for state and national expansion. 4) We have made infrastructure a priority. We have a waiting list for our therapeutic mentors. We can't wait to meet you and to answer your questions about how we will eliminate this waiting list and get services to those literally screaming to us for help. Our goal? To recruit, train and match 1000 mentors over the next 5-10 years.

Interesting Info
  • Between 2008-2018 90% of all our mentees remained out of jail or prison. Without community support 70% return to prison within 3-5 years.
  • Our President is a fulltime volunteer executive receiving a stipend along with 12 other part-time volunteer staff persons
  • Our first scholarship recipient completed college an MBA and MPPA; she has served on the board for ten years.
Geographic Location
Hiring Boot Camp
Delta Support!
Board Member Freddie Sherrill
Expungement Workshop
Proud Recipient of this Award
Keynote speakers at the first Ending Mass Incarceration Conference at the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA