Trips home, not back goal of ex-con center

Springdale site in need of upgrades

SPRINGDALE — Imagine being removed from society and placed in a facility where only one decision is required daily, to comply or not — in eating prepared meals, when to shower or use the restroom, when to be given sheets to make the bed.

Then, imagine returning to society and having to make hundreds of decisions each day.

Many of those who move from incarceration back to the free world live that experience. Some get so overwhelmed by all the options in a grocery store they leave without buying what they need, said Nick Robbins, executive director of Returning Home Center.

“It’s our goal to teach them to be successful in their next phase,” he said.

The center partners with other service providers to help those recently released from prison or with criminal backgrounds reintegrate into society.

Arkansas Community Correction, the state agency responsible for adult parole and probation supervision, reports 53 percent of released inmates return to prison within three years. The agency supervises more than 60,000 offenders throughout the state.

Food, housing, and mental health and substance abuse treatment are the basic needs offenders have when leaving jail, the agency reports.

The front 5,000 square feet of the 15,000-square-foot Returning Home Center opened March 2017 with various organizations, such as Goodwill, NWA Dress for Success and Labor Finders.

The back 10,000 square feet underwent a nearly $400,000 renovation to create transitional housing for up to 50 men. Phoenix Restoration is the organization that oversees the housing. The transitional housing section opened in April and has 38 residents in the 90-day program.

Springdale officials informed Robbins three months ago that the front service area also needed to be brought up to city code, and couldn’t be grandfathered in as Robbins initially thought, he said.

The extra work — including moving the classroom to make an exit in the building’s back and installing new doors — is estimated to cost $35,000, Robbins said. About $24,000 has been raised among individuals and churches, but Returning Home still needs $11,000.

“What we have to do is raise above and beyond our cost, which normally we just raise what we spend, and we’re excited to get to that point every month,” Robbins said. “So now we really have to get after it.”

The center tries to raise $11,000 monthly without the extra cost. Its budget is about $130,000 annually, according to Robbins, the only paid staff member.

The center serves about 100 clients, 50 of whom are new each month, Robbins said. Of those, 80 are people who receive services from providers while 20 enter the residential program.

Goodwill has offered a re-entry program for a few years, but being able to partner with and having an office in Returning Home has allowed the organization to be more efficient in serving clients, said Marty Hausam, re-entry programs manager.

“Prior to Returning Home opening, it was a lot more footwork and phone calls,” she said. “Once we came into Returning Home, we had immediate assistance [with other service providers] right under the same roof. We were able to help a client 10 times faster than officing outside of here.”

Goodwill helps clients obtain jobs by working on resumes and interview skills as well as connecting them with employers willing to hire people with a criminal background, Hausam said.

The federal Bureau of Justice Statistics reports 12 percent of employers said they would accept an application from an ex-convict. The unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people is nearly five times higher than the unemployment rate for the general population, according to The Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit organization based in Easthampton, Mass.

Some qualify to enter into Goodwill’s Transitional Employment Opportunity Program. The 16-week paid training program provides life coaching, mentorship and employment training to prepare clients for job opportunities after the program, Hausam said.

Melissa Landers is in the 14th week of the program and works as a receptionist at Returning Home’s front office.

Landers told her story of being incarcerated four times over 10 years on drug-related charges and how the center has helped her see a better future for herself.

“I love having the accountability and life coaching and skills I’ve gained,” she said, listing off the receptionist, computer and data entry skills she now has. “I’ve learned who I want to become, and that the choices in my past don’t define me.”

The other times she was released from prison were scary, overwhelming and without resources, Landers said.

“The only thing I knew was to go back to the lifestyle I lived ... I felt defeated,” she said. “When I stepped in here and got resources, I felt courage, willingness, determination. It is very awesome.”

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