ex-offenders - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T11:47:58Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/ex-offendersBusy Bees Help to Create Permanent Jobs For Prisoners, Ex-Offenders in Chicagohttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/busy-bees-help-to-create-permanent-jobs-for-prisoners-ex-offender2012-10-04T16:07:48.000Z2012-10-04T16:07:48.000ZSendMeYourNewshttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SendMeYourNews<div><p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<table class="imgCaptionTable" width="320"><tbody><tr><td class="imgCaptionImg" style="text-align:center;" rowspan="1" colspan="1" width="320"><img title="" name="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.743" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs042/1101992540039/img/743.jpg" width="320" border="0" height="239" id="ACCOUNT.IMAGE.743" alt="743.jpg" /></td>
</tr><tr><td class="imgCaptionText" style="text-align:center;font-style:normal;font-weight:400;color:#000000;font-family:serif;" rowspan="1" colspan="1">Sweet Beginnings workers and staff care for the job-creating bees.</td>
</tr></tbody></table><p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> By Joshunda Sanders ~<br /></span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">- Some people see a bee and want to swat it. Brenda Palms-Barber sees a bee and thinks about products it helps to produce and jobs it creates.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Palms-Barber is executive director of the North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN) in Chicago. The nonprofit organization partners with about 100 agencies to help low-income people, primarily former offenders, find and keep jobs.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">In 2004, she launched Sweet Beginnings, a company that makes honey locally and sells natural, honey-based beauty products in local stores and businesses. Assisted by grants from organizations such as the Illinois Department of Corrections and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Sweet Beginnings is creating jobs for the unemployed.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">It has expanded from a single apiary facility with about 20 hives to four with 100 hives, including one with 50 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Sweet Beginnings also keeps 18 hives in the city at the Cook County jail, where the company works to teach incarcerated offenders the art of beekeeping.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"The growth of business is so important because it continues to prove that there can be a market-driven solution to a large social issue," Palms-Barber says. "From here, look out world, right? If we can make this happen successfully in Chicago with one of the largest airports in the country, it helps to codify the model and makes it more reputable to take it to communities where there are fewer economic opportunities in employment for people who need second chances."</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">When Palms-Barber moved to Chicago from Denver with her husband in 1999, she was concerned about the high employment rate for formerly incarcerated men and women. Several NLEN employment initiatives to help ex-offenders move into the workforce had failed. For years, the network had been operating U-Turn Permitted, a 90-day training program, for offenders but had difficulty finding employers willing to hire them.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"We needed to do something," she says.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Unemployment in the North Lawndale community was three times higher than that in the city of Chicago. She needed to train and find jobs for dozens of men and women a year. But how could she keep them employed?</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Palms-Barber put her business management degree from the University of Phoenix to work, seeking a sustainable business model. While she was brainstorming with her partners and board members about job creation, one member mentioned beekeeping.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"Beekeeping seems to be open and receptive to a person no matter what their past," Palms-Barber says. "Bees don't discriminate between what is a flower or a weed. They are seeking nectar. They draw the good out of whatever that plant source is and make it into honey."</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">NLEN hires 30 to 40 men and women annually at a rate of nine or 10 a month. After transitional work experience, 25 percent of those who complete training are hired permanently with Sweet Beginnings.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Kelvin Greenwood, an assistant general manager with Sweet Beginnings, is one example of many success stories.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Greenwood was imprisoned for seven years before joining U-Turn Permitted, the transitional program, in 2008. His initial reaction to bees and beekeeping was the same as that of most novices. "At first, I wasn't too pleased working with them," he said in a phone interview. "At the time, I was ignorant to the fact of what they do, but as I got to working with them, my opinion opened up."</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">The bees are friendly midwesterners from Wisconsin, but honey produced in their hives wasn't enough to create a sustainable and profitable business. The profit margin for honey was only about 13 percent.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Then the Employee Volunteer Council at The Boeing Company took an interest in Sweet Beginnings, attracted in part by how different beekeeping was from traditional volunteer work such as painting buildings or cleaning up lots.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">For a year, Palms-Barber says, she worked with Boeing's high-level and midlevel executives on a business plan including risk management and sales projections. With their help, Palms-Barber sharpened her plan to include honey-infused merchandise such as natural hair care products, lotion, lip balm and body cream. The profit margin for natural products was 80 percent to 85 percent.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"That was a game-changing decision, a real pivot," Palms-Barber says. Sweet Beginnings continues to expand its reach by marketing products in local and national businesses.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">The company developed the first apiary at an airport through its relationship with the Chicago Department of Aviation, which administers O'Hare and nearby Midway International. Sweet Beginnings skin care products are available at 18 Whole Foods stores nationwide and at Hudson News stores at O'Hare and Midway.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">Although the business has grown, Palms-Barber says it still faces hurdles as a small brand in an unstable economy. "We don't have brand recognition. We're still young and very new. Trying to penetrate the market at a time when people are pulling back is very tough."</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">With help from Whole Foods, Sweet Beginnings sales increased 45 percent in the last year. Palms-Barber attributes some of that to having a quality product with an inspiring social message. As nationwide awareness of the importance of local and organic products has increased, she says she and other Sweet Beginnings employees have backed into a health-conscious advocacy role in addition to providing jobs for people.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"We've had film showings in the neighborhood about bees and the role that bees play," she says. "We give out samples of honey, and they begin to taste things that are made locally and in their neighborhood. It's very exciting to talk to people about bees, people who say 'I used to swat them or kill them.' And now they say, 'Usher that bee out the door, don't kill it.' "</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">The biggest takeaway for Palms-Barber remains the image of drawing nectar and sweetness out of a bleak situation.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"On the West Side of Chicago, people will say, 'Where are the bees even finding flowers?' Bees don't discern between what you and I see as a flower and what you and I see as a weed - like white clover, which is actually a weed.</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:12pt;"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;">"It makes the best honey, and there's a lot of that on the West Side. It's about drawing the good out of what looks like a bad plant."</span></p>
<p style="font-family:'Times-New-Roman';color:#000000;text-align:left;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"><span><em>America's Wire is an independent, nonprofit news service run by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education. Our stories can be republished free of charge by newspapers, websites and other media sources. For more information, visit</em></span> <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001H59qg07SenUyqzO7N7Bpi7PZruuvODvDf40pKP22EJRRZhBxSsFjUZx53R-BporMhAUf1x5AD48ZNCIc-2JKSO0NAaIlZUiO-C1Im1gvs3VssUKk2Oj7pA==" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#548dd4;">www.americaswire.org</span></a> <span><em>or contact Michael K. Frisby at</em></span> <a href="mailto:mike@frisbyassociates.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif;color:#548dd4;">mike@frisbyassociates.com</span></a><span><em>. </em></span></p>
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<p> </p></div>Chicago Mayor Can't Stop Summer Crime With Police Alonehttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/chicago-mayor-cant-stop-summer2011-05-24T12:30:00.000Z2011-05-24T12:30:00.000ZMark S. Allenhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/MarkSAllen<div><div><div align="center">As <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_0" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Chicago Mayor</span> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_1" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Rahm Emanuel</span> announces new summer police deployment in an effort to stop and increase in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_2" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">Chicago</span> summer crime on the south and westsides, I would hope that The Mayor will recognize that NO AMOUNT of police deployment in Chicago can address the desperate economic conditions at the root of street tensions that draw <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_3" style="border-bottom:medium none;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;">inner city residents</span> into crime, and MUST back more police deployment with more access to legitimate job opportunities. (Mark S. Allen)</div><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><div style="text-align:left;background-color:transparent;color:#000000;overflow:hidden;text-decoration:none;"><h1 class="entry-title">Mayor Emanuel Can Jump Start Local Jobs AND Reduce Crime By Investing In Community Gardens and Green Jobs!!</h1><div class="entry-header pkg"><div class="entry"><div class="userpic pkg"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/profiles/Marksallen"><br /></a><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828526421,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="183" height="183" class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3828526421,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3828526421?profile=original" /></a></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="entry"><span class="vcard author"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/profiles/Marksallen" class="fn url"><font color="#0000FF"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_1">Marksallen<br /></span></font></a></span></div><div class="entry"></div><div class="fb"></div></div><div class="pkg horizontal-share" id="share-tools-wrapper" style="display:block;float:left;margin-left:0px;"><h3 id="share-tools-title"></h3><div class="clearfix pkg" id="share-tools"><br /></div></div></div><div class="entry"><p>Mayor Emanuel talked his desire to reduce crime and increase local jobs, well the example he set this weekend by attending a groundbreaking for a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_3"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_5">community</span></span> <span class="yshortcuts"><span class="yshortcuts">garden</span></span> in Woodlawn is an example that he can set in every <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_4"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_6">low income</span></span> and high community of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_5" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;">Chicago</span> as early as this summer! And it would help him also achieve his commitment to addressing the "food deserts" in those same urban communities.</p><p>There are dozens and dozens of local community groups including those that represent ex-offenders, former gang members, and at risk youth who have become certified in the ability to create local community business and thousands of low income jobs this summer through the development of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_6"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_7">community gardens</span></span> and other green jobs!! These constituencies are now able to provide much needed fruits and vegetables to these local communities, make a legal income, and be taken away from the illegal street economies and life threatening environments that would otherwise be luring these same constituencies this summer! Many of these same constituencies are facing a summer of a predicted double digit unemployment and lack of established and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_7"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_8">traditional summer jobs</span></span>, but an investment in these community gardens and other green jobs could provide a new level of local community jobs!!</p><p> </p><p>From the Southside to westside and across this city many of the ex-offenders, current and former gang members and other at risk youth identified the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_9">community gardens</span> and green jobs as a way for many of them to make a legitimate income and not be drawn into the illegal elements this summer, and save lives! This is a cost effective investment in that the city has enough vacant lots and land they can donate, and they do not have to pay <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_10">City managers</span> for training for these non profit groups have already done the training and certification processes. In addition to the selling of these fruits and vegetables to local residents, the city could be helpful in recruiting local restaurants and stores to purchase from these <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_8"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_11">new community gardens</span></span> and even larger stores like Wal Mart, Walgreens, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_9">Food For Less</span> and others could also buy from these community gardens and that too will sustain workers working in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_10"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_12">low income communities</span></span> and out of the negative elements, and again, save lives of youth this summer!</p><p> </p><p>Today, Mayor Emanuel said that he will not accept "No We Cant" as an answer to knew proposals, but "YES WE CAN." So I hope The Mayor answers YES to this proposal on putting ex-offenders and other at risk youth to work this summer by investing in the many community organizations who are ready with legitimate organizations, certified training, and certified workers ready to work at Community Gardens and other green jobs this summer!</p><h1 class="entry-title"><font size="4">(Faxed to Mayor Emanuel's Press Office Friday, May 20 and today May 24)</font><br />Contact Mark S. Allen @ <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_0" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1306239563_4" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;">773-392-0165</span></span></h1></div>Read more: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/and-the-ordinary-people-said/2011/05/mayor-emanuel-can-jump-start-local-jobs-and-reduce-crime-by-investing-in-community-gardens-and-green-jobs.html#ixzz1MZ3AcuJI" style="color:#003399;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1305591839_20">http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/and-the-ordinary-people-said/2011/05/mayor-emanuel-can-jump-start-local-jobs-and-reduce-crime-by-investing-in-community-gardens-and-green-jobs.html#ixzz1MZ3AcuJI</span></a></div><div> </div><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:12pt;"><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:12pt;"><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>COMING HOME: Revelations from Former Prisoners" by Sis. Marpessahttps://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/coming-home-revelations-from2011-03-17T17:09:15.000Z2011-03-17T17:09:15.000ZSis. Marpessahttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SisMarpessa<div><p>COMING HOME: REVELATIONS FROM FORMER PRISONERS <br />by Sis. Marpessa Kupendua<br /><br />"I WANT TO LIVE EVERY DAY, because I'm afraid I might lose it all again!" - Former DOC No. A27963<br /><br />Transitioning from a prisoner number to an adult person expected to take on adult responsibilities can be overwhelming for many ex-inmates, particularly those who were incarcerated for long periods of time. The prison industry is flourishing because America is locking up more people than any country in the entire world (2 million + and counting), most for non-violent convictions. The subsequent psychological, sensory and physical impact that many of these returnees experience often goes unaddressed and isn't discussed very often by politicians or mainstream media, even though each day many of us will share space with someone who has spent a significant portion of their life in a cage. Every one of us should be concerned because these men and women are of us and will be returning to us, our communities, and many to our own families. This is dedicated to better understanding the impact of this system's 'corrections' from those who lived it. <br /><br /><br />FAMILY AND SUPPORTERS<br /><br />Former prisoners should ideally receive counseling before release and as part of their release plan to help move through the potentially challenging moments they may experience upon re-entry. Likewise the family should (also ideally) be offered counseling before the inmate is released, particularly the children of soon to be ex-prisoners. Caretakers of the children during the incarceration need to know the pitfalls that could occur and learn the tools to protect everyone emotionally while remaining as supportive as possible during the readjustment period. The family members are changed people as a result of the inmate's incarceration, just as the inmate is, and so things will likely not ever get back to the way they once were. Supporters should always offer encouragement and guidance geared toward smoothing out potentially bumpy transitions and not make the returnee feel as though they owe them something for having supported them while incarcerated nor exacerbate negativity that only serves to further divide and cause pain within the family. <br /><br />Ex-prisoners may not readily accept the advice of others because they are finally free to not follow anyone else's orders and so may make errors in judgement when dealing with seemingly simple situations. Opportunists may take advantage of some of these vulnerable returnees as some can be easily manipulated and led into situations that are detrimental to them. Former friends and dangerous influences may arise and ex-prisoners may even fall into some old patterns. Even when mistakes are made, the last thing returnees need to deal with is ridicule or condemnation, breeding resentment and deterring badly needed support. Many have been terrorized mentally and physically at the hands of guards and other inmates and have deep scarring that no one can see from the outside looking in. Comparing one ex-prisoner's successes to another's lack thereof is meaningless because each individual's journey through their prison years varies greatly and so shall their journey upon release. <br /><br />"I had a family. I had a house. I had a car. I had a job.... I was making good money. Everything was going well, and now I don’t have the patience for anything.... I have problems with my physical self. I have aches in my body and my legs.... [My] life is a lot harder. No matter how many visits, phone calls, and letters you have shared with people, you still don't know how much they have changed over a lengthy period of time until you're actually around them regularly, and they feel the same way about you."<br /><br />"My son wasn't a baby any more and he hadn't seen me in 10 years. Now he was 12. He wouldn't let me hug him. He wouldn't even shake my hand. I'm trying to understand this. I cry every night."<br /><br />"I want to prove to myself and those who stuck by me that i can make it right. i'm so scared of letting anyone down after the burden i've been."<br /><br />"Everything has been taken from me while inside, my mom had been taken from me, my dad has been taken from me, I have no family at all out here and I am completely on my own with $75 and nowhere to go. i was engaged when i got locked up at 18 -- now i'm 45, the rest of my teens, all of my 20s, 30s, and most of my 40s, gone! My only child was born while i was inside and is now himself an inmate and so we'll never be together."<br /><br />"i live with my mother in my old neighborhood. i need a pardon in order to get paid for wrongful imprisonment. After all they've taken from me, you'd think they'd at least provide me with my basic needs, i'm embarrassed to depend on my family as a 45 yr old man to have to eat."<br /><br />"Every night I pray and pray for the prisoners I left behind, I feel so badly for them living under such horrible conditions and promised many of them I would help them when I got out. My one friend is getting out of prison this week, she has been locked up for 8 years....she was 18 when she got locked up. I want to see her, but part of me wants to leave that part of me behind....!!! i want to help but how can i help, i barely have my feet on the ground as it is. But I promised I would and she is counting on me for support."<br /><br />"I went into a serious depression and was put on a medication that drove me into a prison within myself. It took the program staff several months to realize I wasn’t talking to anyone or eating, that I had lost about 30 pounds. I was ‘gone’ even though I was performing my required duties. After all those years of taking care of myself, to be so strong and resourceful and get myself paroled (By God’s Grace) and then not know how to do anything for myself was really difficult."<br /><br /><br />THE REAL WORLD<br /><br />A study of the attitudes of released prisoners in the United States revealed that most expected to be labeled “ex-cons” and treated as failures and pariahs. Getting paperwork together to apply for services such as a birth certificate, social security card, driver's license, etc., are very difficult to obtain and yet are very necessary to acquire quickly in order to become recognized as a person in this system. Learning bus/subway systems or even walking routes may be difficult because of the changes that have taken place in the landscape. A steady diet of encouragement is necessary in order to try and help them find a new 'normal' in their life and set and achieve goals. The feelings of alienation may still be present, no matter how many people may feel that they are close to the inmate. <br /><br />"The dysfunctional consequences of institutionalization are not always immediately obvious once the institutional structure and procedural imperatives have been removed. This is especially true in cases where persons retain a minimum of structure wherever they re-enter free society. Moreover, the most negative consequences of institutionalization may first occur in the form of internal chaos, disorganization, stress, and fear. Yet, institutionalization has taught most people to cover their internal states, and not to openly or easily reveal intimate feelings or reactions. So, the outward appearance of normality and adjustment may mask a range of serious problems in adapting to the freeworld. ... when severely institutionalized persons confront complicated problems or conflicts, especially in the form of unexpected events that cannot be planned for in advance, the myriad of challenges that the non-institutionalized confront in their everyday lives outside the institution may become overwhelming. The facade of normality begins to deteriorate, and persons may behave in dysfunctional or even destructive ways because all of the external structure and supports upon which they relied to keep themselves controlled, directed, and balanced have been removed. ... Parents who return from periods of incarceration still dependent on institutional structures and routines cannot be expected to effectively organize the lives of their children or exercise the initiative and autonomous decisionmaking that parenting requires. ... Those who remain emotionally over-controlled and alienated from others will experience problems being psychologically available and nurturant."-- <a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/Haney.htm#II">http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/prison2home02/Haney.htm#II</a><br /><br />"It felt like I was walking into another world again, I couldn't believe it. Because I've been fighting so long, when (my release) eventually came I didn't know whether to take it or run back inside."<br /><br />"I was very frightened to walk across a street. I couldn't judge the time, distance, and speed of on-coming traffic. I had a problem with my sensory depth perception from bars being right in front of my face. I realized it was a problem after wildly running in an almost panic across the street, only to see the on-rushing traffic to remain still considerable distances down the street. I told myself, 'you've got a problem, so get over it - fast.' And that's exactly what I did. I worked and worked on it."<br /><br />"DO NOT walk up behind me without saying something or making noise of some kind BEFORE you get near me..."<br /><br />"It takes a long time to adjust to basic things, like knowing you can open the bedroom door and go out. One man I know of couldn't leave his bedroom without someone coming to get him. I'm a lot more claustrophobic now -- even the shower curtain bothers me. Many of us suffer from sleep disorders, paranoia, pervasive anxiety, depression, nightmares, night sweats and many symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. " <br /><br />""The first few days are the hardest, just getting your senses used to not being in an institution can be overwhelming. The smells of urban life, the sounds, eyes adjusting to home lighting. Feet hardly know how to walk on wood floors and carpeting (vs. concrete). Being able to close a door and not be watched, the softness of cushions and blankets and people, lights that can be turned on and off when you want."<br /><br />"Last I checked life doesn’t come with instructions. You just got to take it how it comes sometimes. I wish I knew how to make it through a trip to the grocery store without becoming overwhelmed and traumatized by the experience of too many choices. Ice cream was a 30 minute decision making event for me. I have not yet adjusted to thinking for myself completely."<br /><br />"It is all a lot faster, people are different, more hostile and pushy than I remember. "<br /><br />"Once you get outside those gates, you lose those same independent, ambitious thoughts you had, you feel lost and very dependent on other's guidance. I felt thrust into solitude after the active, super-responsible life-style I had in prison. I had a job, a routine, and had earned my respect. I sat in my room at the halfway house, where there was a small TV. For 3 days, I never turned it on because I didn't know how to, and I was too ashamed to ask anyone for help."<br /><br />"I worry about violating parole every time I step outside, by resembling someone or just by talking to the wrong person. Everytime i see the police go by, even though i'm not breaking any law, makes my heart skip a beat because they love to harass Blacks and Latinos, it's a game to them. I only did 5 years and I still jump at the sound of keys or 2 way radio."<br /><br />"I am in awe of all of you as I watch you scurrying around, maneuvering so nonchalantly, effortlessly, while I stumble around like I'm deaf/blind, not knowing which way to go, too prideful to ask many times. I watch people's conversations but have little to offer outside of prison stories, so I have no conversational chit-chat. I watch people hop on and off buses, read confusing street signs and symbols, while i'm still getting lost in these huge stores or feel nervous sitting in a waiting room where it seems that everyone is watching me. "<br /><br /><br />EMPLOYMENT/SURVIVAL<br /><br />Statistically more than half of all inmates are re-arrested at some point, so setting small goals and working towards accomplishing them soon after release is key to getting on the good foot towards staying out. The basic requirements are just what anyone would expect them to be: information on where to obtain temporary shelter, food, clothing, health care/medicines, and the legal documents necessary to apply for employment and services. Instead of prisons providing some semblance of these basic requirements for inmates upon release, most are instead sent home with less than $100, the clothes on their backs, and no support system. They are programmed to fail so that this system can continue to keep its well-oiled, prison money-making machine humming. <br /><br />"There had been no help from inside to prepare me to be successful getting out. At the core of being successful outside is how you can make decisions. I felt inadequate, stupid, less than other people when I first got out, and that made it harder to feel able to make any of the decisions. We think we have a plan and think we have an idea of what it will be, hour by hour, minute by minute. We just get a Plan A together, but we are not prepared with Plan B, C, or D for when Plan A doesn’t work!"<br /><br />"I wish I never had to talk about why I went to jail again. Everytime I have to tell someone I've been to jail, I have to go through the entire story. I just want to put it all behind me, but no one will let me. I just want to work."<br /><br />"I am out of a job, so I need a job and services to help are limited. Because all my adult life has been inside, I have no work history before 2009 and didn’t make enough to pay into UE (unemployment) benefits and only paid less than a year. Because of unemployment’s structure (like the rest of the gov) I only received benefits for four months and have no more money. Also as grateful as I am for friends who come thru in my time of need, I am growing soul weary of taking hand outs at my age. I feel like I should be able to take care of myself and not feel as dependant as I was when I was incarcerated."<br /><br />"The biggest psychological effect that incarceration had on me when I came out after twelve years was not being able to move about as freely as I imagined I would. It isn't that I am not learning some of the things I need to, but that I am not learning all the things I want to and it comes down to time. Often people who come out come to realize that the help they thought they would easily find isn't available and they must do things on their own and that takes time and often just living day to day is hard enough. Now a person can either take their time, manage their time and eventually get to it or get caught up again and be back on the prison plantation. Basic things like how to use cell phones, developing resumes, getting legal documents like ss cards, birth certificates and such are difficult tasks and when people don't plan on how to do some of these things before they come out it will be an even harder task when they are released."<br /><br />"It is frustrating to lay awake and think 'Well if I go back to prison at least my life will be assigned to me: job, clothes, bed, and food, will all be handed to me and I don’t have to worry.' Don’t get me wrong I have no intention (for now) of committing a crime, however I wonder what I will do if push comes to shove and I’m truly out of cash and have no way to eat or support myself at all."<br /><br />"Sent home with no money, job, or place to live. Red tape keeps me from collecting anything from the state for my wrongful imprisonment. Even though i've been exonerated, the record hasn't shown it and so the charges are still on my record and I can't get a job!"<br /><br />"We’re not seen as community members when we get out, and we face discrimination in employment, housing, etc. People don’t necessarily see the value of former prisoners, or understand that we have a right to be part of the community and have something to contribute. We need to get that sense of self and value as part of community."<br /><br />"One of the things that happens is we don’t know the questions to ask because we don’t know the answers we need."<br /><br /><br />GOD BLESS THE CHILD<br /><br />Information is power. Boston's 'Coming Home' Directory is an excellent example of the type of resource that ex-offenders need upon release from prison, listing providers of emergency assistance, health care, housing help, legal assistance, support groups, veterans and women's groups, plus much more, check it out at <a href="http://www.cominghomedirectory.org/index.php">http://www.cominghomedirectory.org/index.php</a>. This directory is exactly the type of information that needs to be in the hands of ex-offenders and their families/supporters from day one. Residents of cities that don't provide a directory along these same lines should get together and create one and make it widely available. This would be a really excellent project for prison activists or any group/church/club to take on. Ex-offenders need assistance applying for and receiving services for some period of time following release, this is basic and should not even be an issue anywhere in this country! <br /><br />Former prisoners, their families and supporters must become involved in organizing for serious changes in state and federal policies and within the prison hellholes themselves. All can attest to the horrendous conditions and practices that violate health codes and constitutional guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. With millions of lives being impacted in some way by the prison system, there could be a massive prison movement happening right now if people who know the deal would simply participate at whatever level they can, there is strength in numbers! A great example of returnees and supporters organizing is Returning Citizens United (returningcitizensunited@verizon.net) of Washington, DC. who actively organize to break the cycle of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration by coalitioning for affordable housing, jobs, and addiction treatment services which can help address the root causes of these issues. They also are fighting for alternatives to incarceration. They believe that by continued recognition for those who have lost their way, they can work together as a unit to help restore the lives of homeless, recovering, and returning citizens (ex-offenders) by meeting their needs so that they can regain structure and stability in society. <br /><br />Helping to rebuild shattered lives is an onerous task that can be rife with frustration and anguish, particularly when it comes to families and supporters. Breaking old habits is more than just a notion for returnees sometimes, but they also must not just be about themselves and recognize that their loved ones have endured tremendous anxiety, depression and grief from missing them and worrying over their day to day survival inside the prison. No matter the amount of joy family and friends may have felt at any given time, that could instantly convert to that sad, sinking feeling by just the thought of their dearly loved one locked up in a prison far away from home. Many family members struggle with illnesses, addictions, and other destructive behaviors as they, too, have done time right along with the ex-prisoner as well as endured the gossiping whispers of a community, church or workplace. Children are traumatized by the teasing of their peers because they have a parent or sibling in prison and are devastated when visits and phone calls end, many times having gone for years without even their human touch. Many families also suffer financial ruin from lawyer fees, fines, the obscene price gouging of prisoner phone calls, traveling hundreds of miles to rural areas to visit, and putting money in prison commissary accounts. Some parolees are even asked to pay a monthly fee for their parole before they have even secured employment, so this also falls to the families to pay! These families truly are the forgotten victims. Supporters must show compassion and not be judgmental or harsh when issues arise as the family and ex-prisoner struggle to readjust around a myriad of issues. Plans may have to change but you best believe that there is always a new day and a new way to fight for a positive outcome for all concerned.<br /><br />"What I really wish I knew back then that I know now is that no matter how well you plan your release it won’t be anything like you plan!! Even and especially the happy family reunions we dream about won’t be so happy. They may be at first but then the reality of time and distance starts to show. Our family’s have a lot of unresolved emotions that may be hidden behind the 'I just want you home' face. My kids told me a year before I got out on Mother’s Day that they couldn’t wait to see me every day. When I got out they had moved from LA area to near San Bernardino and will barely speak to me. I took it hard when my plans weren’t going my way especially on the family part. I just want women to know that even though it won't go as planned, don’t make the mistake I made and let it stop you from taking advantage of what new opportunities arise from life planning itself. This is not the structured world of prison. No one ever knows how a day can begin and end. Just push on and enjoy having a day to begin and end. There aren’t any limits out here and we stand equal to those around us so we don’t have to bend to others will anymore. I think that was my downfall, I forgot that someone else’s word isn’t law, that I have the power over my life and most of all my freedom including freedom to question or challenge or change the course of my life. My best advice: don’t plan beyond finding a place to stay. The first week get your ID, SSI card, and GR or whatever income will sustain you until you get a job. But let all the rest be and take it as it comes."<br /><br />Keep on pushing forward, together we can make better days ahead!<br /><br />Thanks to:<br /><br />Bilal, Deirdre, Diana, Karima, Lee, Mary Ellen, Misty, Mustafa, Nikki, Robin, Vonda and Yango<br /><br />CA Coalition for Women Prisoners - <a href="http://www.womenprisoners.org/">http://www.womenprisoners.org/</a><br /><br />Prisoners are People, Too - <a href="http://www.prp2.org/">http://www.prp2.org/</a><br /><br />The Intersectionality of Race, Gender, and Reentry Challenges for African-American Women, [PDF] American Constitution Society for Law and Policy. November, 2010. "African-American women offenders face collateral attacks on their motherhood, on their ability to secure housing and employment, and on their ability to reintegrate. Reentry programs must have a race and gender focus that confronts intersectionality." <a href="http://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/prison_programs_recidivism_reentry/">http://www.prisonpolicy.org/research/prison_programs_recidivism_reentry/</a>)<br /><a href="http://innocenceprojectpa.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/exonerees-speak-about-life-after-prison-2/">http://innocenceprojectpa.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/exonerees-speak-about-life-after-prison-2/</a><br /><br /><a href="http://thejerichomovement.com">http://thejerichomovement.com</a> - Jericho is a movement with the defined goal of gaining recognition of the fact that political prisoners and prisoners of war exist inside of the United States despite the US government’s continued denial ... and winning amnesty and freedom for these political prisoners.<br /><br /><a href="http://truthinjustice.org/finding-solace.htm">http://truthinjustice.org/finding-solace.htm</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/IHRLC/ReturningHomeDownloadable.pdf">http://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/IHRLC/ReturningHomeDownloadable.pdf</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/11210655/Life-After-Prison-Steps-to-Making-it-on-the-Outside">http://www.scribd.com/doc/11210655/Life-After-Prison-Steps-to-Making-it-on-the-Outside</a> (Cons Helping Cons was not specifically excerpted in this piece but has great suggestions for ex-prisoners, well worth checking out).</p><p> </p><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828524333,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3828524333,original{{/staticFileLink}}" width="311" alt="3828524333?profile=original" /></a></p></div>