Tim Lloyd was just 11 years old when his childhood was abruptly torn apart. After his parents’ divorce, his mother remarried—and the man she chose became Lloyd’s abuser.
“For years, I lived in fear,” said Lloyd, now 62. “From the time I was 11 until I was 18, I was physically and mentally abused by my stepfather.”
Despite the chaos, Lloyd found a glimmer of hope when a friend’s family took him in during his senior year of high school. He graduated, started to rebuild, but the trauma lingered.
Finding Belonging in the Wrong Places
“I got caught up in the streets,” he said. “The guys around me were into drugs, car theft, robberies. I wanted to belong.”
Eventually, Lloyd started robbing banks—three savings and loans, among others. He was arrested in 1986, just days before his son was born. A judge sentenced him to 60 years in prison.
“I saw my face on the news,” he recalled. “Channel 13, Dave Ward saying, ‘You guys that have been robbing Savings and Loans, your pictures are ready and we’ll be right back to show them to you.’ That was the moment everything changed.”
The Turning Point
In prison, Lloyd spiraled into depression. He thought about ending his life—until a chaplain invited him to a Kairos retreat, a Christian-based rehabilitation program.
“I didn’t even apply for it,” he said. “But I went, and it saved me.”
From that retreat, Lloyd began a transformation. He joined the prison choir, enrolled in junior college, and eventually earned an associate’s degree from Trinity Valley Community College. Later, he transferred to a different unit and continued his education at Sam Houston State University, where he graduated in 2004—still wearing his prison uniform under his gown.
“Prison became the place where I rebuilt myself,” Lloyd said.
Love Letters and Becky
While incarcerated, Lloyd reconnected with Becky, a woman he once rode the school bus with when he was in school. They married by proxy in 2000. She wrote to him daily for seven years, visited regularly, and helped rebuild his relationship with his son.
“I had never met him before,” Lloyd said. “He was 13.”
The Free World
Lloyd was released in 2007. Reentry was difficult. He faced job rejections, layoffs, and the stigma of his record. He started a pressure washing business using YouTube tutorials and scraped by.
But he never stopped applying. “I kept my resume up to date and included my past,” he said. “I had to be honest.”
The Next Chance
In 2017, Lloyd found his purpose at Volunteers of America Texas. He joined as a housing case manager, helping people in Montgomery County escape homelessness and start over—just like he did.
Danita Wadley, Chief Strategy Officer at VOA Texas, said Lloyd exemplifies the heart of the organization’s mission.
“I love the idea of next chances, because most of us need enough grace to last beyond a second chance,” she said. “At Volunteers of America Texas, we talk about offering grace and opportunity to vulnerable people—but that includes our staff, too. Tim is a powerful example of what that looks like.”
A Meaningful Ministry
With Wadley’s support, Lloyd was commissioned at a VOA Minister in 2019.
“I was once just a number,” he said. “Now, I make sure every person I serve knows they have a name—and that someone cares.”
As Second Chance Month approaches, Lloyd is ready to share his story—not for sympathy, but to inspire.
“I’m still Tim,” he said with a grin. “I joke, I work hard, I go all-in at the office potluck. But if my journey can help someone else, then every step was worth it.”