2nd Chance gives prisoners leg-up after release - News
Christopher Sellers had one pair of pants, a stack of court papers and $12.50 when they dropped him off at the bus station in Scranton at 6:30 a.m.
The 54-year-old completed his prison sentence at SCI Waymart with one parting instruction — get to the halfway house — and little more.
It costs $800 to get out of jail, said William McCarthy, chief probation officer of the county Adult Probation and Parole Department — not in fees from the justice system, but for a deposit on an apartment and first month’s rent.
Those who don’t have the money stay locked up longer because stable housing is a condition of parole.
Left on their own to start over, many who get out revert to their old ways because they don’t have the support they need, he said Sunday, while walking through the small and first-ever 2nd Chance Festival in Nay Aug Park, an event organized by the Lackawanna County Reentry Task Force’s housing subcommittee.
The task force, a consortium of organizations and agencies from around the region, is working to provide one-time stipends to help ex-inmates like Sellers get over that hump with a better chance at getting on their feet
After another inmate told him about PathStone, an organization that helps inmates reenter the community, Sellers got job training and certification. He landed a job at UGL in Dunmore, where he makes paint in 2,000-gallon batches.
“I’ve been told by my employer that I hold one of the most important jobs there,” he said. He didn’t sound arrogant, just proud. “Now this is a convicted felon who came to Scranton with the shirt on his back.”
With a criminal record, it’s hard to get employment, and it’s hard to be taken seriously, said Christina Hoffman.
At 36 years old, she’s been out of jail 4½ years. She’s worked for the last two years at PathStone, where her record has become an asset in connecting with clients.
Finding housing is tough, she said, because “you have to let the people you are going to rent off of know you’re in the criminal system. Some inmates have a hard time.”
McCarthy and the other groups Sunday hoped to connect with those people struggling.
“We’re really trying to fill the gaps of the criminal justice system,” said Matt Clemente, a defense attorney who works with NEPA Prison Advocates.
Beth Ann Zero, also with the organization, chimed in.
“We’re providing a network for a lot of different groups that are already working on specific things to help,” she said.
The reentry task force and its rent stipend, which has received community support, fits into that effort.
McCarthy said about 175 inmates in Lackawanna County are now getting ready to reenter the community.
A committee decides which of them will receive stipends, which the task force will pay directly to landlords.
But while numerous organizations pull together to help improve life after prison, they may never quench the anxiety and uncertainty that immediately follows release.
“I’m uncomfortable. Sometimes I wish I was back in the jail,” said David Griggs, 60, who just left prison Aug. 1 after 17½ years. “I can’t interact with a lot of people out here. I’m uncomfortable.”
He’s been having trouble with his landlord, he said, and seemed shaky on whether he was going to find his footing.
“For the last 17 years, I’ve been in a safe, free environment, for real,” he said. “And I come up here and there’s too many obstacles for people like me. And I’m a person that’s trying to get myself together.”
Contact the writer:
joconnell@timesshamrock.com;
570-348-9131;
@jon_oc on Twitter
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