2017: Voices of Reentry

Voices of Reentry is a series of profiles of people making good on second chances after they return from incarceration. Articles in the series tell individual stories to highlight the impact of programs funded under federal Improved Reentry Education grants. See these profiles and more tools on the U.S. Department of Education’s Reentry Toolkit.

• Jordan Holter: Seizing the Opportunity of a Lifetime. Jordan Holter had been in and out of jail more than 20 times, not including his stays in juvenile facilities. Learn about his experience in Project Proven. Before turning 32, Jordan will graduate from Western Technical College with an associate’s degree in manufacturing systems maintenance and a full-time job.
• Dorothy Gonzales: It’s Never too Late to Change. Dorothy Gonzales got her GED on her 49th birthday. The odds of a woman in her fifties with a ninth-grade education and a criminal history transforming herself into a desirable job candidate are slim. But Dorothy beat the odds again and again, and Washburn Tech’s CPT program was a critical step on her long path toward recovery and reentry.
• Vanessa Adams and Shelly Vincent: TDL Training Puts Women on a Path to Self-Sufficiency. Extending a transportation, distribution, and logistics training program into two prisons to create new training and employment opportunities for women and men returning from incarceration.
• Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 Students. Thinking Long Term. After stints in state prison, Bill Vaskie and Joe Gonzalez knew they had to change. At Lancaster Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 in Pennsylvania, they received customized support for their specific academic needs, which led them both to receive their GEDs and then job training for careers as welders.
• Lorain Community College Students. Helping Hands Create Opportunities for Change. Rebuilding one’s life after prison can’t be done alone. In Ohio, a program at Lorain County Community College uses education and lots of support-mentors, academic counselors and advisors-to help students with criminal histories make a successful reentry.
• Essex Community College Students. Building Trust to Rebuild Lives. Life in prison makes it hard to trust anyone. The BROWNS program team at Essex Community College in New Jersey has no hidden agendas and wants its former-inmate students to know how to respond to challenging situations and to develop their cognitive skills to make better decisions.