{"id":28,"date":"2026-02-06T15:15:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/?p=28"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T15:15:18","slug":"building-second-chances-and-stronger-communities-through-trucking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/2026\/02\/06\/building-second-chances-and-stronger-communities-through-trucking\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Second Chances and Stronger Communities Through Trucking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>For the past two years,&nbsp;<strong>The Shay Legacy Foundation<\/strong>&nbsp;has made the&nbsp;<strong>Road to Transition<\/strong>&nbsp;program a core focus of its mission \u2014 helping formerly incarcerated individuals across New York State rebuild their lives through meaningful careers in the trucking industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the center of this work is&nbsp;<strong>Rusty Stetzel<\/strong>, who has been traveling across the state, building relationships with correctional facilities, meeting with incarcerated individuals before release, and walking with them through the transition from incarceration to employment. His work spans from&nbsp;<strong>Buffalo to Manhattan<\/strong>, reaching facilities across the state and connecting people with real job opportunities as&nbsp;<strong>truck drivers, diesel technicians, warehouse workers, forklift operators, and more<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In just the last year and a half alone, Rusty has helped&nbsp;<strong>72 returning citizens<\/strong>&nbsp;find employment.<br>Twelve are currently driving trucks, four are actively enrolled in CDL training programs, and many others are working in logistics, warehousing, and skilled trades roles across New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re not looking for handouts \u2014 they\u2019re looking for a chance,\u201d Rusty shared. \u201cThey\u2019ve made the decision to change their lives. They don\u2019t want to go back to where they were, and they\u2019re doing the work to build something better for their future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Road to Transition isn\u2019t just workforce development \u2014 it\u2019s community transformation. The program helps fill critical labor shortages in trucking and logistics while also addressing a much larger issue facing our state:&nbsp;<strong>recidivism<\/strong>. By connecting individuals with stable, rewarding careers, the program creates long-term impact not only for employers, but for families, communities, and public safety across New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe shortage is real \u2014 but so is the opportunity,\u201d Rusty explained. \u201cIf we\u2019re telling people there\u2019s a future for them in this industry, then we have a responsibility to help open the door.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes this initiative different is its human approach. It\u2019s not transactional. It\u2019s relational. It starts inside correctional facilities, continues through reentry, and extends into long-term career development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want the credit,\u201d Rusty said. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones putting in the work. I\u2019m just a small part of helping them get from where they are to where they\u2019re trying to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At its core, Road to Transition strengthens two systems at once:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It supports the\u00a0<strong>trucking industry<\/strong>\u00a0by connecting motivated, dependable workers to urgently needed roles<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It supports\u00a0<strong>New York State<\/strong>\u00a0by helping individuals break cycles of incarceration and build stable, productive lives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This is what workforce development looks like when it\u2019s done with purpose \u2014 not just filling jobs, but building futures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the past two years,&nbsp;The Shay Legacy Foundation&nbsp;has made the&nbsp;Road to Transition&nbsp;program a core focus of its mission \u2014 helping formerly incarcerated individuals across New York State rebuild their lives through meaningful careers in the trucking industry. At the center of this work is&nbsp;Rusty Stetzel, who has been traveling across the state, building relationships with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29,"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions\/29"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaylegacy.org\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}