Twenty-three years, seven months, and three days. That’s how long Robert Jones was incarcerated for a violent crime he did not commit. Falsely charged when he was just 19 years old, Jones was finally cleared of all charges on his 44th birthday.

Rather than dwelling on the years stolen from him, Jones immediately began making his remaining years count. In 2021, Jones, who had earned a GED in prison and taken college courses in business and real estate, launched Jones Property Group, a real estate investment company with a mission.

The company buys deteriorating properties in low-income New Orleans neighborhoods, renovates them, then makes them available for rent or purchase at modest prices. Jones markets his rental properties to Section 8 voucher holders, renters who receive housing subsidies.

“My mother was on a Section 8 voucher program years ago,” Jones says. “There’s a stigma associated with it. A lot of landlords don’t want to rent to these people, and it can be hard for them to find anywhere decent to live. I want to change that. I want to give people an opportunity to move into a house where they can relax. Where they can give their child his own room. Where they find freshly painted walls and nice flooring. I want to give them a place that feels like a little luxury instead of treating people badly because they can’t afford the things other people can.”

HOPE supported Jones in his mission with a commercial loan that allowed him to make extensive renovations to his properties while improving his cash flow.

“HOPE is a community financial organization,” Jones says. “Traditional banks can hand you too much red tape and it can be very discouraging. HOPE gives you opportunities and they make the process easy. I needed to find a trusted financial organization, one that I can build a lasting relationship with. I’ve found that in HOPE.”

In addition to his real estate business, Jones co-founded the Free-Dem Foundation, a nonprofit that mentors youth and returning citizens. Jones is teaching his mentees financial education lessons and introducing them to the basics of the real estate business, hoping to encourage a new generation of entrepreneurs.

“Kids that come from these environments, they generally don’t see people that look like them excelling and actually owning things,” Jones says. “I take them to my properties to see the work I’m doing, and they’re thrilled. They’ll say, ‘You actually own this stuff?’ Wow!’ “In prison, I saw people in their worst moments, and I’ve seen what anger and bitterness can do to a person,” Jones continues. “It makes me feel great to help other people. By helping other people and improving the environment around me, I’m changing myself for the better, too.”