Photo by Sean Dalton
Keely Copeland
For Keely Copeland, establishing Her 2nd Chance (H2C) was personal. She worked hard to turn her life around after getting sober in 2010, but couldn’t find a job because of her background.
“I was in the hospitality industry — bartending, serving and hostessing — all of the jobs that are particularly fun for a young alcoholic,” Copeland, 36, jokes. “I was only able to truly move forward when I was given a second chance [a job at the Hotel Indigo Sarasota] and a path to self-sufficiency.”
In Sarasota, she met her future husband. They moved to Delray Beach, then eventually to Hong Kong with their daughter for his job.
She started Her 2nd Chance, a Boca Raton 501(c)(3) nonprofit social enterprise, in 2018 to give others the same break she was afforded. Even from abroad, Copeland remains deeply involved. She serves on the board of Her 2nd Chance and returns to Florida for board meetings.
“Today, I have been blessed with the opportunity to pay it forward — helping women emerging from adversity in our local community,” says Copeland, a Pennsylvania native.
“There are so many women out there who are like 2011 Keely — deeply motivated, ambitious, hardworking and eager to prove themselves. They just need someone to take a chance on them.”
The organization is built on three key pillars — work, wellness and growth — designed to strengthen each woman’s recovery capital, a model endorsed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that focuses on building the personal, social, community and cultural resources that sustain long-term recovery.
The first pillar, work, centers on the nonprofit’s e-commerce site (her2ndchance.org) and Etsy store (“Her2ndChance”), where members sell handmade products like greeting cards, ornaments and popular accessories including personalized mugs and tumblers. These items generate revenue to partially fund their wages and expand their employment opportunities.
The second pillar, wellness, is brought to life through Wellness Works — an initiative that builds community and strengthens interpersonal relationships and recovery through daily meditations, weekly team lunches, monthly well‑being workshops and quarterly team‑building events.
The third pillar, growth, is reflected in the Bridge to Employment (B2E) program, which prepares participants for jobs in the community with career mentoring, résumé assistance, mock interviews and skill-building workshops, ensuring a smooth transition to their next employer.
“Many of these women are coming out of extremely difficult situations — incarceration, addiction, abuse or trafficking. We’re rebuilding their sense of worth, from the ground up,” Copeland explains. “Since our inception, we have hired and offered our services to more than 100 women in recovery.”
Her 2nd Chance reminds the women nurtured and empowered by the organization that recovery isn’t about perfection — it’s about courage, gratitude and taking it one day at a time.
For more information or to support Her 2nd Chance, call 561-405-6346 or visit her2ndchance.org.