Getting Their Lives Back on Track : Ex-Convicts Get Helping Hand From Community Connection

In 1982, George Golden was sent to state prison for robbery. Shortly after being released in 1985, Golden was picked up and convicted of driving a car without the owner’s permission and served time again.

Now he’s paid his debt to society and as the holidays approach, Golden plans to spend a little time off at a halfway house, taking a break from the late shift as a San Diego cab driver. Golden says he couldn’t be more happy.

Alan (who asked that his last name not be used) couldn’t be more happy, either, as the Christmas and New Year’s holidays approach. After being released from the Chino California Institution for Men following a stint for burglary, he has been working as a merchandising clerk and is training to become a pharmacy worker.

George Golden and Alan are trying to beat the odds. The odds, as reported in a study recently released by the Rand Corp., are that more than three out of four convicts released from a California correctional facility will wind up serving time again within three years.

The two men hope that Community Connection will be the secret to their success.

A San Diego program, Community Connection has instituted programs to help former inmates successfully reenter society.

Director Louise Fyock said that law enforcement’s “get tough” approach toward criminals has placed many lawbreakers in jail, but just as many people have served their time and are being released from correctional institutions.

“Just because we’re putting them away, it doesn’t mean they’re going to stay there,” Fyock said. “It’s as imperative that we work with these individuals so that they can come back and be successful. They come out in the worst shape and without resources.”

Community Connection, which receives funding from the county, state and federal governments, currently offers a number of services that include pre-release planning in county, state and federal correctional facilities; assistance in obtaining employment; assistance and referrals for housing, food and clothing; information and referrals to special community programs, and educational and vocational counseling. Its office is located across from County Jail.

Golden, 41, landed his job as a cab driver after taking job-skills classes. But before he could do that, Golden needed new shoes, clothes and a new driver’s license. Community Connection helped pay for those items, but because of his past record, Golden was skeptical about landing a taxi driver’s job.

“I was worried because of the robbery,” said Golden, whose beefy arms are heavily tattooed. “How were they going to react to a robber driving a cab.” He also credited his parole officer for suggesting to his employer that Golden was motivated enough to learn a new trade and not get back into trouble. And Golden couldn’t be more satisfied with working seven nights a week.

Alan, a 22-year-old slender man, said he has several career goals. “I want to be a veterinarian; I want to be a physicist; I want to be a psychologist,” said Alan, adding that he didn’t want to be a pharmacy worker for the rest of his life. “I like learning . . .I love math. If you give me a problem, I’ll try to solve it.”

Since October, 1985, when Community Connection replaced the defunct Project JOVE (Jobs, On-the-Job Training, Vocational and Educational Assistance project) the program has served more than 1,500 clients. The former inmates had been been sentenced for a wide range of crimes including murder, child molestation and drug trafficking, Fyock said.

“We get them all,” she said.

It is the project’s goal, Fyock said, to produce success stories like Golden and Alan, and to provide employment for 70% of its clients in the San Diego area. Many have been referred to the program by the agency’s prison outreach workers and probation and parole officers, Fyock said.

Ex-offenders learn interviewing skills and are taught how to explain to a prospective employer about their past criminal records. And employers are offered tax credits if they hire an ex-offender.

“It’s an incentive for the employer to hire someone who has a criminal record,” Fyock said. “And the one thing we tell employers is that these people have talents.”

Fyock said that former inmates who enter the organization’s job program must do their part by completing 320 hours of classroom instruction and on-the-job training. “We’re not there to give any handouts,” she said. “They have to have some commitment before we’re willing to go to bat for them.”

One ex-offender who is committed is Meredith Most, a 39-year-old mother who recently served 18 months for conspiracy of interstate transportation of money orders. In September, she began living in a halfway house and entered the program.

Her Christmas gift came a week early when she saw her children, ages 3 and 5, for the first time since her arrest. They are now living with her in her new apartment.

“What I learned when I was incarcerated was that when I got out I didn’t want to go back,” said Most, who now serves as a Community Connection counselor and helps to secure housing, food, clothing and other necessary items for newly released inmates.

Most has been working hard the past week to gather donated food and toys to brighten the Christmas holiday for ex-offenders and their families. On Tuesday, about 80 former inmates and their families arrived at the Community Connection office to receive boxes and bags filled with chicken, canned goods and toys.

The project currently receives $243,430 from the County Justice System Advisory Department and $170,000 from the San Diego Private Industry Council, a nonprofit group which receives funds from the state and federal governments. Both agencies have contracts with the United Methodist Urban Ministry, which is sponsoring Community Connection.

Sheriff’s Department Lt. John Tenwolde said, “We have been philosophically in favor of programs that help inmates leave the custody setting and reintegrate into society.”

One former inmate from San Quentin who came to pick up his Christmas package hasn’t been as lucky as the others. The 35-year-old man, who described himself as an experienced handyman who has been a barber, carpenter, dry cleaner and a janitor, has vowed that he will never return to prison.

Community Connection has given him the best help he’s ever gotten, he said, but “I’ve been calling people and they just tell me that ‘We don’t have an opening’ or ‘We’ll call you.’ I just need one break.”