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Our Story

Having founded Freedom House Reentry Education and Employment Corporation (FREE) in 2013 and self-funding the organization for four years until I ran out of money, I decided there had to be a more sustainable way of providing financial support and necessary programming to communities and populations most in need.

I was watching a documentary on HBO or Hulu that showed a group of white men in Colorado who were becoming very rich from growing and selling cannabis.

Knowing what I know about the disparity around race within the criminal justice system and how many black and brown individuals were imprisoned for doing exactly what these Colorado entrepreneurs were doing, I became angry at the injustice of it all and decided a new approach was necessary.

I decided to create a cannabis company that was made up of and run by marginalized or underserved groups and individuals: Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), women, and members of the LGBTQ communities.

This company would be located in areas deemed lower income and we would train and hire formerly incarcerated individuals to not only work in our facilities, but we would also offer opportunities for an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

Thus began our journey into the Cannabis industry.

Creating a cannabis company is hard, especially when you have limited funds and are constantly running out of money, which as a self-funder happens frequently.

After spending hundreds of thousands (mostly legal) to create the correct corporate structure that would eventually allow for funding, we had to identify a team with the necessary credentials and skill sets for a successful company.

Next, we had to find the right location and the right licensing structure. We had to determine what we were going to cultivate, and manufacture and to whom we were going to sell our product (our marketing strategy).

Finally, we needed to determine exactly how much money we would need to accomplish this task and how we were going to raise it (investors).

I once heard a quote “Doing big shit takes big time.” I would like to think that we have prepared ourselves well and that now is our time.

Welcome to #cannabiswithpurpose

Dylan Hood, Founder of FREE,
FREE-Green LLC,
FREE-Green Coachella LLC,
FREE Reentry

Dylan Hood, the founder of FREE had an epiphany: Human beings make mistakes and most people who make mistakes deserve a second chance. Researching the concept of second chances and how they manifest in different ways, Hood became acutely aware of the millions of people who have made mistakes that resulted in incarceration. Many of these men and women were not given second chances but instead found themselves defined by their mistakes and trapped in the criminal justice system.

​A startling 40% of formerly incarcerated individuals return to prison within three years and never see a second chance. Furthermore, the largest population returning to jail and prison are the minority groups within the United States, black and brown people. Many of the incarcerated come from impoverished and disenfranchised communities with no social support systems in place. This problem needed a long-term solution. Hood traveled all over the world researching the correctional systems that fail, including the United States, and correctional solutions that seem to succeed. After countless hours of interviews and research, Hood saw that reentry is a complex problem with many moving pieces.

He wanted to empower impoverished communities to start businesses and become self reliant, driven by goals and freedom. Hood, wanted an easy and successful way for formerly incarcerated individuals to reenter into their communities, so he created FREE-Green LLC and also created FREE Reentry.

FREE-Green is a unique idea leading to FREEdom

FREE-Green LLC is the first grow facility committed to employing people from the within the community who were most affected by cannabis offenses (people of color and women), marginalized people, and formerly incarcerated adults. Simply, we are taking a stand and saying no more to racial bias in the criminal justice system as a whole.

We are creating the first-of-its-kind cannabis grow facility that will primarily employ individuals of color who have been formerly incarcerated. A large percentage of revenue from this operation will go towards our programming and the communities that we serve.

WE AIM TO:​

  • Own and operate cannabis cultivation and future extraction/manufacturing facilities in the state of California.
  • Produce high-grade cannabis products and build a recognizable brand in a rapidly growing industry.
  • Be supplying one of the best cannabis and cannabis products to retailers and commercial distributors.
  • Embrace Social Equity in the cannabis industry by bring diversity to our manage staff.
  • Train and hire formerly incarcerated individuals and their families from within the Riverside County and the Coachella Valley.
  • Be fully compliant with all state and local municipalities and be primed and ready for national expansion as federal laws adjust and evolve to the benefit of the cannabis industry.
  • Have the FREE-Green Coachella brand become a trusted name for high quality cannabis products.
  • Provide our retailer partners with top quality cannabis products, bringing carefully crafted  guidance for a superior path to success. 
  • Help our brand partners achieve greater market penetration through a superior approach with high volume retailers.
OUR TEAM