I was notified yesterday of a recent development concerning a former employee of ours at NOMO Foundation, Kyle McLemore. Mr. Mclemore joined our organization through our Second Chance Initiative in 2020. He was a participant in our Restorative Justice Re-Entry program, RIPS (Restorative Intervention and Prevention Program), where he excelled and was subsequently offered a paid intern position within our Credible Messenger program.
Unfortunately, Mr. Mclemore was arrested in 2021 and was immediately terminated from his position at Nomo. Yesterday, he was sentenced to ten years in prison. The news coverage of his sentencing
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has prominently mentioned his past association with Nomo, focusing on the details of his work history as outlined in his Pre-Sentence Investigation and the US Attorney's press release. This was clearly a smear campaign by the media taking the focus off the crime and sentencing of Mr. Mclemore in attempt to defame another black lead community organization that’s actually doing great work to combatting the violence in Philadelphia. Why haven’t the success stories been reported?
I want to clarify that neither Nomo nor its executive staff had any knowledge of Mr. Mclemore's illegal activities. Upon his arrest, Mr. Mclemore was promptly removed from all publications and terminated from his position as youth intern coordinator.
In response to this situation, I issued the following public statement on behalf of Nomo:
"This comes with great disappointment, and we were hoping this was not true. He was fired immediately once this accusation came out. He has no connection to Nomo. This will not deter us from giving second chance opportunities. We won’t let one bad apple spoil the bunch. There are many success stories that have come through Nomo via a second chance. I was given a second chance, and I believe everyone deserves one until proven unworthy of the opportunity, as Mr. McLemore did. This is the reason why he was suspended two weeks prior to his arrest, pending a termination hearing for no-shows and lateness. To be clear, Nomo in no way is connected to Kyle anymore and had no knowledge of his illegal activity until his arrest.
We remain committed to our mission of providing second chances and supporting individuals in their journey towards rehabilitation and reintegration. This incident, while unfortunate, will not deter us from continuing our important work. We have many success stories that demonstrate the positive impact of our programs, and we will continue to focus on these successes.”
Rickey Mr. Nomo Duncan CEO
On a brighter note Nomo was also featured in a FOX29 30 minute Special last week as we honored the Legacy of our Founder Dr. Tom Reid and the naming of our housing program The Tom Reid Village
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