The odds are against ex-offenders

I was having
lunch with Emmett Solomon because friends of mine had recently welcomed
home a son from five years in the penitentiary. Their son’s story is
not unfamiliar. He developed a drug problem as a teenager that he was
never able to whip. After four or five run-ins with our court system he
found himself in Huntsville.

It
was an agonizing time for his parents, who were embarrassed their son
had gotten into such serious trouble, petrified that he would be
seriously harmed and haunted about what he might be enduring in prison.
Any parent can imagine their relief when the call came that he was
finally being paroled. Soon after the joyous homecoming, however, the
reality began to sink in that the hardships were by no means over.

No
one wanted to employ an ex-felon. No apartment complexes wanted to rent
him an apartment. They learned that he was barred from scores of
licenses. Forget getting any credit. My friends have made do, allowing
their son to live at home and finding him a job in a family company.
But as I watched them struggle with trying to help their son get back
on his feet, I wondered what becomes of the vast majority of
ex-offenders who have no such support systems.

For
years at the TDC Emmett Solomon had asked himself the same question and
did not like the answer. So in 1993, he left TDC and formed the
Restorative Justice Ministry Network. For the last 15 years, Emmett and
his group have met men as they walked out of prison, welcoming them
back to society and offering whatever help they can.

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