Restarting your life after incarceration can come with challenges and roadblocks, such as gaining access to transportation, housing and employment. Those were the challenges community members in Charlotte faced on Tuesday as part of a county simulation.
About 30 people milled inside Rockwell AME Zion Church on Rockwell Church Road. They visited tables with posters advertising job opportunities and housing support. To receive those services, participants had to answer questions such as whether they had funds to cover rent or a form of ID for their application.
Those without the right documents or enough funds were turned away. Latoshia Young is the county’s reentry services program manager. Young said the simulation was meant to help people understand the experiences of those restarting their lives after incarceration.
“Whether they are employers or if they are landlords, we want them to understand what [formerly incarcerated people] go through and also consider giving them a second chance once they return to the community, because it reduces recidivism,” Young said.
In Mecklenburg County, about 1,500 people transition out of state and federal prisons each year. Shaheedah Ross was one of them. Ross spent close to 17 years in state prison, and said she hopes people take away a few things from the simulation.
“Understanding and compassion, first of all. Second of all, if you are an employer, consider being a second and fair chance employer with livable wages for Charlotte,” Ross said.
City Council member Reneé Johnson was also in attendance. Johnson spoke to community members about her organization, Triumph Services, which provides resources that include behavioral and health services to survivors of trauma. Johnson was joined by Liz Clasen-Kelly, the CEO of Roof Above, which operates shelter programs for those experiencing homelessness.
Community member Velma McCauley, 65, was also at the event.
McCauley said the initiative helped her understand what her grandson went through after serving prison time. “This was my chance to get to know his head, his mind, what was having to go on, what he had to think of, and to do it in a hurry,” McCauley said.
