When people first hear about our Dinner Symposiums, they often assume they’re simply meals shared over conversation. But for our Associates, our staff, and our partners, the symposium is far more than that. It is the heartbeat of The Redemption Project. It is where trust is built, where accountability is shaped, and where hope is rekindled in ways that no classroom or program checklist can ever replicate.

I’ve learned that transformation doesn’t happen in grand moments, it happens in consistent ones. It happens when people show up, week after week, and sit across the table from one another with honesty. It happens when someone hears their own story reflected back in the struggles and victories of others. It happens when a person who has spent years feeling invisible finally feels seen.

At the Dinner Symposium, no one is a number. No one is judged by their past. Everyone is encouraged to speak, to think, and to grow.

What makes it powerful isn’t the food.
It isn’t the schedule. It isn’t even the curriculum, although the Virtues for Success™ does play a vital role.

The power comes from presence.

Presence from Senior Partners who show Associates what consistency looks like.
Presence from Employment Partners who remind them that opportunities are real.
Presence from Community Partners who choose to invest their time in people society often overlooks.
Presence from the Associates themselves, who take the courageous step of walking into a room that challenges them to grow.

When someone sits at that table for the first time, they often walk in with fear, fear of being judged, fear of speaking, fear of failing yet again. But as the weeks go by, something remarkable happens. Shoulders ease. Voices strengthen. People begin to encourage one another. They begin to take pride in their progress. They begin to understand the virtue behind the work: that change is possible, but only when we commit to it.

I often tell people that showing up is the first victory.

It’s the victory over old habits.
The victory over isolation.
The victory over the belief that no one cares what happens to you.

The symposium is where Associates learn to rely on a community rather than return to familiar, destructive patterns. It’s where they are reminded that they are not alone, that their growth matters, and that people believe in the future they are trying to build.

I’ve watched men and women walk into these dinners broken by their past and walk out believing in their future. I’ve heard laughter fill rooms where fear once lived. I’ve witnessed friendships form that carry Associates through some of their hardest days.

We call it a symposium, but what it truly is…is a safe place to grow.

The Redemption Project doesn’t exist to check boxes. We exist to walk alongside people rebuilding their lives. And nothing embodies that mission more than the moments we share at these dinners, month after month.

Because in the end, transformation is built on relationships.
And relationships are built by showing up.

Dwight

Why 'Showing Up' Is Our Secret to Transformation