Tim Ward is eager for more people to know about the Chance for Life (CFL) organization. That is why he has embarked on a remarkable 22-day journey to raise awareness and funds for the groundbreaking program that successfully trains individuals incarcerated in prisons as they return to communities.

On July 18, Ward stopped in Munising while biking his way across the northern counties of the Upper Peninsula. It’s part of a 2,400-mile trek on his Trace Michigan tour.

Ward is the president of Michigan Legislative Consultants, a Lansing lobbying firm that has been driving policy change for more than half a century. After 35 years of political consulting, government service, and advocacy experience, Ward values societal reform that features innovation and strategic thinking. In Chance for Life, he found exactly that.

“Chance for Life is a progressive transformational program that works,” said Ward. “The group has developed an approach that changes the community and creates a better future one life at a time.”

Through job training, job placement, mentoring, and family reintegration, CFL provides the tools needed so core members become rational, critically thinking people that are motivated to help themselves and others.

Ward said the recidivism rate of CFL’s core members is just six percent.

“This is a bold strategy that breaks the cycle of despair,” Ward said. “By teaching behavioral and life skills, these residents can transition into the community that has changed significantly during their absence. CFL helps people move beyond the mistakes of the past and build brighter futures.”

During the journey, which will take more than three weeks, Ward is riding his bicycle around the entire Lower and Upper peninsulas. He started in Detroit on July 10 and is scheduled to end in Detroit on August 3.