Desmond Meade spoke to a religious congregation in Apopka, Florida, earlier this month about a dark period in his life. “Not long ago, I was standing in front of the train tracks, waiting for a train to come so I could jump in front of it,” he said.

It was 2005, and Meade was addicted to crack, homeless, unemployed and recently released from prison after being convicted of possession of a firearm by a felon. Or, as he refers to his status at that time: a “returning citizen.”

The train that Meade was going to jump in front of to commit suicide never arrived. He saw it as a sign, crossed the railroad tracks and entered rehab, then moved into a homeless shelter, earning associate’s degrees, a bachelor’s degree and eventually a law degree. Florida International University.

He is now the founder of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), an organization that fights for the voting rights of those released from prison and has successfully restored the voting rights of more than 1.4 million Floridians thanks to Amendment 4, a 2018 ballot initiative that gives people the right to vote if they complete their sentence following a felony conviction.

“We don’t use that ‘F’ word because there’s a person’s mother, father, sister, brother who lives behind that scarlet letter of shame,” Meade told ABC News during the ‘a recent interview at the FRRC offices in Orlando, Florida.

“When you’re talking about someone who’s been impacted by the criminal justice system, they’re not disposable people,” Meade said. “Rather, when you look at me, see what’s wrong with this country, man, no, you can look at me and see what’s possible with this country. Man, that we’re a second chance nation; that we We are a nation of conquering against all odds.

Meade travels across the state to different communities in an FRRC bus, implementing programs that allow people who have completed their sentences to expunge their records, register them to vote, find legal services and pay fees of justice. His work has earned him a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, a place among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2019, and a MacArthur Foundation Class of 2021 Fellowship.

“The sooner we help someone reintegrate, the less likely they are to reoffend, and everyone benefits,” Meade said.

A year after Florida ratified Amendment 4, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 7066, which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law, requiring that even after serving their sentences, those who leave the system must pay any related fees ordered by the court. before you can vote. People convicted of murder or sexual assault are an exception and are not allowed to vote.

Over the past eight years, Florida has had the highest number of people of any state in the country who have been released from prison and are unable to vote – often because they cannot afford to pay the fees. monetary sanctions ordered by the court. , according to The Sentencing Project.

In 2022, DeSantis created a new election crime and security unit and announced the arrests of 20 people who allegedly voted after being convicted of murder or a sex offense.

“The State of Florida has indicted and is in the process of arresting 20 people across the state for election fraud,” DeSantis announced at an August 2022 press conference.

Neither Gov. DeSantis nor Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd immediately responded to ABC News’ request for a statement.

“At the end of the day, my sons never stop being my sons,” Meade said of his children when they disappoint him. “And I don’t think anyone should stop being a U.S. citizen just because of a mistake they made, especially when that mistake was 10, 15, 20 years ago. That doesn’t make sense.”

The FRRC’s work is a family affair for Meade, his wife Sheena Meade and their five children, who travel to communities, go door to door and run a phone bank to spread voter education and register people to vote. the electoral lists.

The FRRC has raised about $30 million to pay court costs for about 44,000 people in Florida who have completed their prison sentences. But Meade said it’s not about who people vote for. He just wants them to get involved in the political process.

“If you’re only fighting for the voting rights of people who you think might vote the way you do, you’re not engaging in democratic work, you’re engaging in partisan work,” Meade said. “Our democracy needs less partisanship and more collective participation.”

Neil Volz, deputy director of the FRRC, was convicted of felony bribery and fraud conspiracy while working in Washington, D.C., with now-disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to the Justice Department. Volz first met Meade at a FRRC event in Florida.

“I will never forget the words he said. He said no one has a monopoly on the pain caused by disenfranchisement,” Volz told ABC News in an interview in Apopka , in Florida. “The vision he presented was much bigger than race, much bigger than politics, much bigger than economics.”

Meade said restrictive voting laws for people released from prison in Florida stem from archaic Jim Crow-era legislation passed when suppression of African-American voters increased during segregation. At the time, barriers to voting included poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation tactics – sometimes from law enforcement. But the FRRC founder said he had a duty to those who came before him to defend the rights they fought for.

“They didn’t do this for themselves. They did it for me. And if I don’t vote, then what I’m saying is they died in vain,” Meade said. “That I wasn’t worth the sacrifice they made. And I know I deserve it.”

Henry Walker, who was released from prison after serving three years for illegal possession of a firearm, will vote for the first time in the 2024 election with help from the FRRC.

“FRRC has helped provide opportunity. Just having the opportunity to tell my story for someone like me, a returning citizen, to see it,” Walker told ABC News during a interview in Orlando, Florida. “And say, ‘If he can do it, I can do it.'”

Barbara Haynes, a woman who served her prison sentence and fought for 20 years to gain her right to vote, was finally able to register to vote thanks to Amendment 4 and the FRRC, according to Meade. At that point, he had less than 6 months to live due to a terminal illness.

“Her last wish was so basic; she just wanted to feel what it felt like to be part of something bigger,” Meade said. “Be part of this democracy.”

Haynes died weeks after registering to vote and before she could vote, according to the FRRC founder.

“And it tore my heart out,” Meade said. “She didn’t get that opportunity. How many people didn’t get that opportunity?”

Sabina Ghebremedhin of ABC News contributed to this report.

If you are having suicidal thoughts or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text Suicide. & Crisis Lifeline on 988 for free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.