Getting Out and Staying Out

In 2003 retired business executive, Mark L. Goldsmith, was invited to visit Horizon Academy at Rikers Island as a volunteer Principal for the Day. His discussions with young inmates at the school that day were so well received that the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Department of Education (DOE) invited him to return to meet with the students on a regular basis. From that visit the idea of Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) emerged. The idea was simple: bring successful people to Rikers Island to coach young men, giving them practical direction and tools to build productive lives in mainstream society; and continue to coach them when they return to their communities. In short, give them the tools to Get Out and then to Stay Out.