Steven Holloway

Steven Lanier James Holloway
Executive Director & PACE Founder
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Steve's Story

The history of PACE really began approximately in 1970, at the age of 8. I did not know it then; all I knew is that life seemed so unfair. My father, a starting quarterback and class Valedictorian at Booker T. Washington High School in Houston , Texas - the first African American Supervisor for Southern Pacific Railroad Englewood Yard, a husband and father of 1 son, 3 daughters was involved in drugs. He along with two other men and a female robbed 3 Savings & Loans on the same day on the same street. My father was the only one captured, and would not "rat" on his friends. As a result, he was sentenced to 99 years in Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville , Texas .

I remember the pain and mental anguish that my mother, 3 sisters and I felt on that cold day in the courtroom when the judge said "guilty as charged." It was the biggest setback in my life. Prosecutor John Holmes recommended a stiff 99-year sentence because my father was carrying a weapon. My mother did everything possible to protect her children from the impact of a father in prison. I remember her telling us that our father was being sent to a hospital. After seeing several television shows about prisons, I breathlessly put 2 and 2 together.

For 5 years I traveled twice a month to visit my father. Each time I would cry during the entire visit. I could never look my father in the face because I did not want him to see me crying. I did not want him to know how much I was hurting from the absence of having him in my life or from being raised in a single-parent home.

My sisters and I were in a lot of pain. The community did not reach out to us, nor did the church reach out to us. It was then that God begin to show me that I would one day help people like my family when I got older.

The pain and stress magnified. It was too painful to talk to each other about the setback so we all held in our concerns, feelings, and fears. As a result, we were mentally scarred and we turned to the street life. To cover-up my pain, I turned to alcohol and drugs "uppers & downers" at the age of 11. I still tried to be there for my family. I combed my sister's hair and cut yards on the weekends to help my mother.

In 1975 , a man by the name of Fred Carrosco tried to break out of the Huntsville State Penitentiary. He asked my father to go with him, and my father refused because he was a short timer. I am grateful that my father refused because Fred was killed and that year my daddy was released. He came to see me play in one of my football games and in 1976 he committed another crime and was sent to Ramsey Unit 1 to complete his 99-year sentence. Now 30 years later, he has recently been released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He holds a Master's Degree and 3 Bachelor of Science Degrees. I have seen him go from black hair to gray hair. I have seen him go from having all of his teeth to missing a few. I believe he was once "institutionalized".

For several years, I was in a state of confusion. I used my father's setback as an excuse to do drugs and give up on life. My sisters were in and out of penitentiaries and my mother was embarrassed and hurt. After my father returned to the system, my grandfather took me under his wing and began to shape me. My self-esteem was being rebuilt, I became a better student, my character began to mature and I started working. As years went by, I prayed to God and read Psalms 91 hoping that God would hear me and help me out. Before my Grandfather died in 1982, he said "Son go join the Army, it will make a better man out of you." And it did, I was an honor graduate out of 163 men in my Basic Training class. I received numerous awards in the military and was honorably discharged in February 1987.

All of my big dreams were destroyed when I returned home to the same atmosphere that I had previously left. My pain began to resurface and I turned to cocaine. From March of 1987 to January 1994, I was a cocaine addict. In October 1994 God changed my life and called me to preach. I began to see my purpose in life. In February 1995, I preached my first sermon. On May 4, 1995, God gave me a vision which was being a developer of youth . For almost a whole month, all I could ever see were youth in my dreams or as I sat and pondered, even as I worked. I saw youth all shapes, sizes and color. In June of 1995, I visited an all boys State School in Crockett Texas . I had a defining moment that day at Crockett State School . I knew that working with incarcerated children was part of my purpose on earth.

In August of 1995, I was given the responsibility of leading a Church Prison Ministry. God blessed the vision over the next 3 years at Crockett State School . He used that ministry to win a multitude of souls to Him and 272 boys were baptized. I traveled to other State Schools in Texas to include Jefferson, Brownwood , Brownwood Sanction, Hamilton , Edinberg and Giddings. I saw some of the same faces at more than one school. God put on my heart to "fan into flame" the vision he gave me. That gave birth to PACE, an aftercare program for juvenile offenders. I share credit for the program with many committed people that helped bring the program into fruition .

In September 1998, I met Senior Pastor, Dr. Paul Cannings of Living Word Fellowship Church . God had directed my family and me to visit, and we joined shortly thereafter. I shared with Pastor Cannings, the vision that was put on my heart in the area of Prison Ministry and Aftercare. He said that I was an answer to his prayer for his vision. I met with Outreach Director, Ted Lawson, on several occasions to fine tune the aftercare program. After which, he set up a meeting for Pastor Cannings and I and himself for his insight and approval. The last meeting that Pastor and I had, we were trying to figure out a name for the program. We took the elements of the program P ositive Self-Esteem, A cademics, C haracter, and Employment and created the name PACE .

We then met with Denise Kennedy and Carolyn Rogers to discuss how we could become partners. After the meeting in August of 2000, the ministry followed the direction of Denise Kennedy from the Texas Youth Commission's Re-socialization Training , TYC Volunteer Training and Mentoring Training.

On January 3, 2001, we began a Pilot Program for PACE and received our first group of youth. The program lasted 17 weeks. Out of our first 7 boys, 4 completed the program and it was a success. We started our 2nd semester August 2001 and graduated 5 out of 7 on December 12, 2001. In total, 9 out of 14 boys have completed the PACE program. Two boys have received the PACE Outstanding Eagle Award , 5 have received Perfect Attendance Awards and 2 have been successfully discharged from Parole Supervision. Of the 9 that have completed the program, no one has been re-arrested to my knowledge.

PACE works to build youth from the inside out. The program was a nominee for "Outstanding Ministry of the Year" for the state of Texas . As the overseer of PACE, it is my duty to help our youth turn their setbacks into comebacks, as the Lord has helped me turn my own setbacks into comebacks. I am currently married and have 5 girls, ages 12, 7 and newborn triplets. I am a supervisor at American General Financial Group and the Founder/Director of the PACE program.