Jail bird gone right

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I have a question, in this question lies opportunity to re-build someone's hope, and self esteem. My Boyfriend..... He made a mistake... A HUGE mistake, when he was 15 years old.... Him and his "friend" decided they would take care of their mothers, who were all going to end up homeless because of lack of money, by robbing a bank and supporting them by paying bills with the money they would have stolen. My boyfriend's 16 year old sister had a newborn and she needed help as well. Well, him and his friend got caught and sentenced to 65 years. My boyfriend, from here on out I will write about him in his true name, Tim, only had to serve 12 1/2 years of his time. He's been out over a year. He was my long time ago friend and now serious boyfriend, and lives with me. He is wonderful to my children, and even more wonderful when it comes to taking care of us, as I have cancer and on some days it's hard for me. He does the cooking, cleaning, etc. He even takes my boys out to play and they love him. The thing is, I am unable to work. He has been looking for a job since the day after he got out with no luck. I see him calling potential job employers and going to the places he has put in applications for. I have watched as he applied endlessly for any kind of job what so ever. He tries so hard and gets nowhere. I know the economy sucks, and it's hard for any of us to find true work. He thinks it's because of his past, and maybe he is right. He has to put down that he was incarcerated and is a known felon. He hasn't spoken to his dad in over 10 years and he even recently got in touch with him just to see if he could help him with a job. His dad shot him down and told him someone, somewhere will hire him. My poor man has been so good and he is now 28 years old. Nobody wants to believe that it was just something a 15 year old boy thought he could get away with to help his family. I've seen him struggle to get carpentry jobs and odds and ends jobs just to fail at them because his youth was taken away. He didn't even know how to use the computer when he first came home, or the oven for that matter. He has come a long way and is trying. SO my question here is, do you believe he deserves a second chance at life after robbing a bank at 15? and if so, do you have any advice for me to give him to keep his head up? He feels like such a failure, and I watched him cry for the first time today because he couldn't provide for me and the kids. I just don't know what to do and would love some opinions.