Ava’s Story
November 22nd, 2011 by adminThis is another installment in the stories shared during our Prison Ministry Social Justice service.
It started with Sheron and Desi. And visits to Fluvanna Women’s Prison. And preparing for Sheron’s homecoming. And joining Joan and Dell at Albemarle/Charlottesville Regional Jail in providing career counseling to inmates.
Then as a Case Manager for the Workforce Investment Act. That program served adults who received food stamps and/or lived below the poverty level. With an active case load of 60 adult clients, over 50% had criminal convictions, most of them felonies. All clients had done their time. All had been trying to make it in a particularly bad economy in a community that was looking for job candidates with higher levels of experience, education and NO criminal record. A presenting situation frought with disappointment and frustration.
My clients were people like you and me. People who couldn’t undo what they had done. With regrets and heavy burdens. With financial woes. With hopes and dreams. Some with families. And while Charlottesville is now known as the City of Second Chances for ex-felons, removing barriers to employment and preventing recidivism will be a major undertaking for years to come.
Through the Charlottesville Dialogue on Race, there is a Prisoner Re-Entry Committee that has been active in getting the Second Chance Resolution passed by the City Council. It was instrumental in the first Re-entry Summit which was held in April and attended by a many ex-offenders. That Committee arranged for a panel discussion of prison literature “The New Jim Crow”, by Michelle Alexander, that was taped and runs on our local TV channel. In the weeks ahead, it will publish a resource guide to be provided to ex-offenders as they are released into our community. Governor McDonnell has embraced change for ex-offenders and has charged committees at the state level to tackle some of the most difficult issues. Local governments are participating as well.
Sticking my nose into all of this has caused me some surprise. The issues facing ex-offenders are situations that I can embrace and want to do something about. I don’t recall giving my voice to other programs for which I volunteered. I can empathize with an ex-offenders reality. I learned:
1. If I have been convicted of a felony, all court costs and fines that I owe will be held against my drivers’ license. Until I pay those fines, usually in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars, I cannot drive, but must rely on friends, family, taxi or bus to get me to and from. If I live in the city, my job location must be somewhere on the bus line or I’ll need to walk. If I rely on public transportation or JAUNT to get me to work, I will be late many times, and may lose my job as a result.
2. If my family resides in public housing, the nature of my conviction may bar me from living with or even visiting my family. This may be the only place I can call home, so I couch surf, live at the Salvation Army if beds are available, or live on the streets. If I take the chance of visiting my family, I may wind up back in jail.
3. I may be on parole or probation and if so, must report to my parole or probation officer. If I fail to find employment 90 days after my release, I will have violated my parole and wind up back in jail.
4. If my conviction was drug related, I will not be eligible to receive food stamps.
5. If I am not a high school graduate and did not pursue a GED while incarcerated, chances of my getting employment are slim to none.
6. My conviction(s) will preclude me from being considered for professions in which the crime was a barrier crime. That list is long.
7. I might have a valid drivers’ license and a junker automobile, but upkeep, insurance and the price of gas, makes me crazy. If I don’t have a job, I don’t drive. If I can afford the auto, I can’t afford the child care costs so that I can hold down a job, buy groceries and provide for my family.
8. As an ex-offender I can’t vote unless I go through a laborious, painful process. If I had been released in California, I could vote on the day of my release.
9. Going back is easier than staying out.
Prisons are big business and more are being built to warehouse members of our community. The number of people who are incarcerated has grown exponentially over the past 25 years. Racism is alive and well as proven by the statistics that show the majority of individuals who are incarcerated are African-Americans. Are we as a people engaged in “The New Jim Crow”? Just how far have we come?
My time and energy spent with those who are incarcerated and with those who are back in our community has been an important part of my life. Should you have an interest in becoming involved in prisoner re-entry in some small way, please speak with me.
Ava Baum