Episode 39, 40 min listen
In today's episode, we speak with Don Williams of JUMPSTART. In our interview, we explore the topic of community inclusion and belonging for individuals returning from prison. In this episode, we'll learn about the systemic barriers in many communities that make it difficult for individuals returning from prison to succeed.
AUDIO PLAYER
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
Learn more about JUMPSTART.
Voices of The Returned: Life After Incarceration hasn't published new episodes in a while, but their content still resonated with me. Their episodes offer an excellent opportunity to hear directly from individuals about their experience with incarceration and beyond. Through this podcast, I also learned that April is National Second Chance month.
DON'S BIO
True Restoration, Mind Transformation and Personal Elevation. These are the three facets that encompass the life’s work, mission and purpose of Determined Don Williams. Don’s heartfelt desire to help individuals tap into their “True Potential” is the driving force that pushes him to equip returning citizens to become productive and fulfilled in the mission God has called them to. Don’s passion for assisting those who were incarcerated is dear to his heart. He knows all too well how difficult this can be- as he personally endured this journey- and now speaks to youth and adults about making the right choices and living a life committed to giving themselves away. Don has been the keynote speaker and trained numerous organizations about the value of effective communication, customer service, team building, professionalism. Don Williams is an innovative force as well as a visionary enhancing the professional and personal lives of the masses “one life at a time”.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
-Episode Introduction
Ame Sanders 00:11
This is the State of Inclusion Podcast, where we explore topics at the intersection of equity, inclusion, and community. In each episode, we meet people who are changing their communities for the better. And we discover actions that each of us can take to improve our own communities. I’m Ame Sanders. Welcome.
At State of Inclusion, we’re all about building equitable and inclusive communities for everyone. And that means everyone. In today’s episode, we’re going to explore the topic of community inclusion and belonging for individuals returning from prison. This episode will touch on at least two aspects of what we call the practice of building a more inclusive community. The first is the practice of Groundwork, and that’s preparing our hearts and shifting our community culture to be open and welcoming to everyone and build a community of belonging. The second is the practice of Systems Work.
In this episode, we’ll learn about systemic barriers that exist in many communities that make it difficult for individuals returning from prison to be successful. So today, we are happy to welcome Don Williams. Don is a co-founder and Director of Community Relations for Jumpstart Jumpstart is a nonprofit, faith-based organization that is dedicated to working with current and former justice-involved individuals to help them prepare and assist with their reentry into the community. Jumpstart is based in South Carolina, my home state, but they have chapters across the country. So welcome, Don. I’m so happy you were able to join us today and for the opportunity to learn about the work that you do.
Don Williams 02:01
Thank you so much for having me, Ame. I’m delighted to spend this time with you and share a little bit about Jumpstart.
Ame Sanders 02:09
So, I know that you work both inside and outside of prisons. This means that you work with individuals who are still in prison, and those who are in the process of reentering society. So, tell us a little bit about your program at Jumpstart and what Jumpstart does.
-JUMPSTART Program
Don Williams 02:24
Okay, so our program, like you said, starts on the inside of prison. We usually work with men and women that’s within two years or less of being released or going up for parole. So, there are 21 institutions across the state of South Carolina, and our program is facilitated in 18 of those institutions. Whenever we engage a new institution, we work closely with the chaplain’s office and identify inmate leaders–those that can teach our program in the event of things such as COVID. When COVID was going on, we had our inmate leaders that were still able to keep the class going. So, there’s a 40-week process that we go through with the program. Typically, we start in February of each year, and we graduate in in November. So, at any given time, we may have 1000 program participants that are going through the Jumpstart process, and usually 400-500 graduate.
But what we also do is we have volunteers that we deploy from different geographic areas across the state that are close to each prison that go in and work closely with the inmate leaders as well. We’ve learned that the volunteers are a breath of fresh air from the outside because some program participants don’t have any type of communication with friends or family from the outside. So, having a volunteer to come in on a weekly basis to come into the class and keep conversation going and just the love on you really is what it boils down to make makes a world of difference and boost up the morale of our program participants.
Now, those that successfully complete the program, which is our inside portion, that may need housing–like I said, there’s usually 400-500 that typically graduate out of that 1000 that go through the program–we have about 30% that once they’re released, they don’t have anywhere to go. So, that’s where our outside portion of our program comes into play, where we provide housing, case management, financial literacy, employment assistance, and mentoring. We also have different organizations in the community that provide wraparound services such as health care, mental health, vocational rehab, as well as just counseling for any trauma that they experienced pre-prison or while incarcerated.
So, that section of the program usually lasts about a year, 12 to 18 months, our program participants can stay in our housing program to really get their footing up under them to reintegrate back into society. Currently, we can house up to 60 participants right now. Fifty men and 10 women. That’s typically how the process works inside and outside. One thing that I didn’t share that we do provide on the outside is we help with social security card, ID, birth certificate, all of those things that it’s going to take to reintegrate back into society set successfully.
Ame Sanders 05:46
I know you’re one of the cofounders of Jumpstart. Whenever I have the opportunity to interview founder, I love a good origin story. So, maybe you can tell me a little bit about how Jumpstart got started and how you got started with this work.
-JUMPSTART Origin Story
Don Williams 06:05
Okay, so it was 2004. I was finishing up a sentence in the Department of Corrections. It was my second time being incarcerated, but my brother was locked up with me and all throughout my years of growing up, my brother was the oldest of five of us. All throughout my years of growing up, my brother was on heroin. Our daddy died when I was like six months old, so I really never knew him. So, my brother was kind of the male figure. But like I said, due to his addiction, he wasn’t there as much as he could be.
So, my brother was incarcerated with me on a separate charge. I don’t mind sharing the story with you, but at this point in time, he had been clean for about eight years. He had been working with the same employer, and had worked his way up to a supervisory position. He was in the process of getting his driver’s license back. One particular morning, his wife had to go to work before he did. So, he dropped her off at work and drove their car to his job. But on his way to work, he was profiled by an officer that knew his past history and knew that my brother didn’t have a driver’s license. Pulled them over, took him to jail for driving on suspension. So, my brother when he went to court, he didn’t have all of the money to pay for his driving on suspension fine. He had like half of it. He told the judge say, “Hey, I’ve got half today.” It was like a Wednesday. He said, “I get paid on Friday. I can bring the other half.” Due to his previous criminal record, the judge sentenced him to six months.
Well, his employer had promised to hold his position for him, so he was ecstatic while we were incarcerated. We got shipped the same day. We stayed in the same dorm. It was good. You know, I knew my brother had been clean for all those years, and we have communicated. But, we had a lot of time to spend together while we were incarcerated and just to talk about our dreams and goals upon release.
Well, my brother got out a couple of months before I did and his employer didn’t hold that job like they promised to. At this particular time, my brother was 49. He had been to prison four different times–that last incarceration made that fourth time–just in a state of depression, not knowing how that he was going to start over at that age. He had self-medicated so long, he just decided to shoot a little bit of heroin, because that’s all he knew. When hard times came, even throughout those eight years, I’m sure that he experienced some hard times, but maybe nothing as drastic as this. And he went out and some dope. Three weeks after being out, his wife found him dead on the bathroom floor. First time shooting dope in eight years, and he OD-ed.
When I got word back in prison, it was, I tell you, Ame, hit me like the Liberty Bell. I knew that I had to do something to tell the story and keep the legacy going, because not only was it my brother, but I was surrounded. I had been incarcerated twice. This was my second time being incarcerated. So, I’ve been around, literally 1000s of men, you know, throughout those two times that I was incarcerated that didn’t know what they were going to do and were just scared to go back into society. So, God kind of sat down on my heart and what was laid on my heart at first was to educate employees, because employment is a big barrier for men and women that are returning back to our community.
So, I got out March 1, 2004. The Department of South Carolina Department of Corrections wouldn’t let me come back inside the prison for three years. So, I began to work with some of the inmates that was coming out of the federal prison and working with the federal probation and doing employment readiness and then getting out in the community. Just educating employers and telling my brother’s story and educating employees on, “Hey, man, we have people coming back to the community that are really wanting to do right but need an opportunity.” That’s kind of my story. I began to work with different agencies, different employment agencies, that were willing to provide opportunities for men and women that was returning back to our community. Every day that I woke up, I just said to myself, “You know, my brother fell through the cracks, but God, if you give me strength, to the best of my ability, I’ll never let another man or woman fall through the cracks and go back to what they used to do because of employment.” That’s kind of my story. And I’ve stuck to it since 2004.
Ame Sanders 11:30
Wow, that is a powerful story. Thank you for sharing that with us. I have a quote from Bryan Stevenson, of the Equal Justice Initiative, hanging on the wall in my office. It says, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” I think that’s such a powerful quote. You started to share with us in the story that you told us, but I’d like to go a little bit more deeply on this. Sometimes we can “other,” or consider as others, individuals who either are in prison who are just coming out of prison, and not see them as the neighbors and community members that they are. Not seeing their whole humanity, who they really are as people.
So, tell us more about the people that you serve. What do you wish our listeners knew and considered when they thought about folks that you work with? Maybe you can talk a little bit about unnecessary barriers that are put up to their success? I mean, the example of what happened to your brother is a powerful example of how a relatively small thing can change or end somebody’s life. So, maybe you can help us understand a little bit more about how we should think about this.
-JUMPSTART Clients
Don Williams 12:48
Right. So, one thing that I would say, going back to the to the quote from Bryan Stevenson, a lot of things that lead to incarceration are split second decisions. You know, we all make them. We all make split second decisions and have knee jerk reactions to different things, and it costs some of us more than others. But what I strive to educate the community and employers on is that the person that committed this crime, due to what they went through inside of prison, and the transformation that has taken place, is not the same person that you’re looking at on that piece of paper or on your laptop that says “sex offender” or “armed robber.” They’re not that person. They made a split-second decision. A poor decision, a poor split-second decision.
But, through the process of them going through what they had to go through their lives have been transformed. But, society has a way of still judging individuals for their past mistakes when they’re no longer even that person. That would be the key that I would say is that those individuals that make a poor split second decision, once transformation happens, they’re no longer those people. As a community, we have to learn that everyone deserves a second chance. Everyone deserves a second chance, and that those barriers that are created are only going to backfire later.
Here’s why I say that. So, I was speaking with a local politician about a year ago. This was during COVID because we weren’t able to go inside the prison. So, one of the things that we began to do beause we weren’t able to go inside of the prison to facilitate the program even though the inmate leaders were still keeping it going in some prisons that weren’t on lockdown, but yet, we still had men and women returning back to our community that we weren’t able to touch while incarcerated. So, I was sharing with this community leader and saying the number of individuals that we have returned back to our community, if only 10% of them were unable to access services in the community, and they go left, what would this community turn into? You know what I mean?
So, we begin to do different things, getting more access and making more of a presence in the community because if you think about it– say for instance, you have South Carolina and Spartanburg and Greenville are the highest two highest two counties in the state where men and women are returning from. So, between Spartanburg and Greenville, you have 125 men and women that are returning back to those communities on a monthly basis. Okay, so if there are no services in that community for those men and women to have access to and they go back to what they knew, how would that affect the community? Versus the community getting involved and saying, “Hey, we know that we have men and women coming back to the community.” Employers begin to open their doors. We have other agencies that begin to offer services to those men and women.
When they come back to the community, they’re hungry for change. But, when the doors closed in your face, I mean, what else do you have to do? You know what I mean? You’ve got to have somewhere to stay. You’ve got to eat. Depending on whether you have a family, or a wife and children that you left behind, there are needs that are gonna have to be taken care of. So, at the end of the day, I don’t want to say that the community is responsible for men and women, because of the choices that were made. It was a choice. But, I do feel like that there should be more opportunity in the community for those that’s returning back versus just shutting the door on him and saying, “Do the crime, do the time.”
Ame Sanders 17:35
So, maybe you can talk a little bit about the kinds of barriers that people face when they come back into the community. We’ve talked about a few of them already. Talk about some of the other barriers that you think the community should be addressing.
-Barriers to Re-Entry
Don Williams 17:50
Mental health is one. Also, transportation is a big barrier. And healthcare. I’ll pull up and park here on healthcare for a second, because we have a tremendous partnership with an organization here that provides health care services to our program participants until they are employed and their benefits kick in.
So, we have program participants that may be getting diabetic medication while incarcerated. Well, upon release, they may only get three to five days’ worth of medication when they’re leaving the Department of Corrections. When they come back into the community, if they don’t know, any services or where the services are that are available that can help them with their medication, and now that three to five days’ worth of medication is out, they don’t have money to go and buy anymore, what happens?
So, we partner with an organization that steps in and provides that, to where an individual that’s on medication can have continual health care until they begin to work. So, that’s one barrier. Over my years, I’ve seen the same thing with individuals that were on mental health medication and have had episodes upon being released because the medication wasn’t available.
The other thing that that I will share is just trauma. I had a young lady that worked at Voc Rehab, and she told me years ago, “We met with one of your guys, and he has PTSD.” I was like, “I thought that only came from the army.” She was like, “No, he did 33 years.” As he began to tell her his story of what he experienced while incarcerated, as far as some of the beatings that he took and being thrown off of a second floor, those type of things were traumatic to him. So, having access to counseling to talk about those kinds of things.
Here’s another thing that I’ve learned–usually when transformation and takes place and we really become aware of who we are now versus who we used to be, then there are certain issues that pop up that we probably had swept under the rug for a long time or withdrew or self-medicated. Now that our mind is clear, our hearts are clear, we go back, and we revisit those to try to correct those wrongs or to address those particular situations that we suppressed for a long time. So, counseling is key. We may need to go talk to somebody, you know what I mean? Because part of that transformation process is like, “Okay, this is the thing that’s been hindering me for so long, because of this that happened in my life.”
I mean, I don’t mind being transparent. But my daddy was very abusive. So, there’s no doubt in my mind that that was one of the things that led my brother to heroin. That was his way of dealing with what he experienced in the home. He was at a turning point, to where I think that if there was a Jumpstart, my brother would still be alive today, and maybe sitting on this video with me to tell you his story. But it’s are so many others –thousands and tens of thousands–of men and women across the country that are incarcerated and that are experiencing those specific barriers that I named that if the community really got involved, it could help with a successful transition.
Ame Sanders 22:13
There’s one aspect that I wanted to ask you about. It’s particularly about families reuniting, because I think that’s one of the big challenges in our communities as well, is to be able to bring people back to their families. If they have left children or spouses on the outside, talk a little bit about that. How we should think about that, and what are some of the barriers to making that happen? How can we make that more successful for people?
Don Williams 22:45
So, I’ll start by saying this, just as I’m thinking back over my career and some of the things that I’ve seen. There are certain crimes, upon release, where men and women can’t go back to their families due to the fact that the crime that was committed. We’re just gonna just be transparent. Say, for instance, someone that was a sex offender. Now, before I go deep into that, I want to explain to you all the things that will put you on the sex offender registry. All right.
So, if you commit an armed robbery and say, for instance, and you walk in a store. Say you got a drug habit and you walk in the store, and you’re going to rob that store, but there’s two clerks there. You put those two clerks in the stock room while you hit the register and hit the safe, then that’s considered kidnapping. All right. So, anytime someone has a kidnapping that’s connected to an armed robbery, you go on sex offender registry, whether you did anything to them or not. Okay. So now, here’s an individual that was on drugs and committed an armed robbery, but because he moved the store clerks from point A to point B against their will, he’s considered a kidnapper, and put on the sex offender registry. Now, that same individual, when he returns back to the community, he can’t go to Walmart. He can’t go around a playground. He can’t be around anyone under the age of 18 due to that. What if he has children? Let’s tie that back into family reunification. What if his children are under 18? That’s a barrier. That’s a huge barrier.
Some of the other things that are barriers–say that a man and woman have a child, the man or the woman goes away to prison for whatever reason, and the other parent has sole custody. Well, when they come out for whatever reason, the other parent has contaminated the child, making the child feel as if their father or mother is a bad person or the grandparent. Whoever has custody of the child. That’s a barrier. You see what I’m saying?
So, what I think that the community could do is that it probably needs to be some type of–I don’t have the exact answer to this, but just off the top of my head–there needs to be some type of counseling or training for those individuals that have custody of someone else’s child while they’re incarcerated. I think that they need to be educated as well, so that when they do come home, that they’re not still mad, because they went to jail. You got a child that when you left was a couple months old, and now they’re years old, and you’re having to rebuild this relationship.
I mean, even within my own life, each time that I went to prison my wife was there. Her and the kids were there and supported me. But the first time that I went to prison, one of our daughters, she’s 24 now, but she was two months old. So, when I came home, even though she would come to the prison with her mama sometimes to visit me, she was the youngest at that particular time. So, when I came home, she was like three years old and she would cry when my wife would leave to go to work and leave me home with her because she didn’t really know me, right? But she also, it was an easier process to rebuild with her because nobody was in her ear contaminating her. She just didn’t know me. Those situations are a little bit smoother to handle versus someone that is mad because you went to prison and contaminating the child. So that’s a barrier to me.
Ame Sanders 27:29
People also lose access to social services and things based on certain crimes. You talked about sex offenders, but not only sex offenders. If your family lives in public housing, for example, I guess you would lose access to being able to go back to public housing, right?
Don Williams 27:47
Right. And even say, for instance, you get out and you need a little food stamp assistance. If you have a drug charge, you cannot get food stamps.
-Improving Recidivism
Ame Sanders 27:59
Yeah. So, it continues after you’re out and you’re free and you’ve served your time. These barriers continue in your life that obviously your organization and others in the community are working to help address that. But we should all be more aware of, because we can affect that.
When we talked on the phone before, you told me that South Carolina has the best or lowest recidivism rate in the country. I’m just gonna be honest, South Carolina is rarely the best in social indicators, so I was a little surprised. Maybe you could talk a few minutes about what recidivism is, what that term means, because everybody may not be familiar with it. And then talk a little bit about what is it you think we’re doing right? What do you see happening in other parts of the country? Because I know you work with other communities and other states as well.
Don Williams 28:51
Recidivism is when someone returns to prison within a three-year period. That’s just the nuts and bolts of what recidivism is. Now, the reason that I think South Carolina has the lowest recidivism rate is there are a lot of programs within the South Carolina Department of Corrections. As I move around to different states and kind of compare programs that are offered on the inside versus what’s compared offered in South Carolina, South Carolina has prison industries where men and women can go to work and earn wages if they need to send money home or just save money while they’re incarcerated that’s available. They get forklift certification, HVAC, wastewater treatment so that when they come out, that they are actually marketable in the community.
One of the other things is the educational piece. Men and women are able to attain the GED while incarcerated. There’s actually a school system within the Department of Corrections. I will say overall, just to put a bow on it, is access to different programs that helps with personal development for those that’s incarcerated if they take the time to do it. Because there’s a lot of stuff that you could get into. But, I think with the availability of the programs, and even after meeting with a lot of the individuals that sit in leadership with the Department of Corrections, their heart is wanting to help men and women get out and stay out. So, I will say access to programs, and then just those that are in leadership, really desire for those that are incarcerated to get out and not come back and provide different personal development opportunities for them.
Ame Sanders 30:58
So, what are you seeing in other states?
Don Williams 31:01
That’s a loaded question, but I’ll pick it apart for you. So, some of the things that I’m seeing in other states is not as much access to programs. Now, a lot of states are coming on board and getting more involved on the reentry side, because I think that that’s where a lot of states are lacking in is providing services to empower men and women and help them prepare for when they come out.
Some of the things that South Carolina could do better, it’s a plethora of things. But I think that right now we’re doing well, and we can only put as much on our plate as we possibly can at one time. So, where we are is a good spot and there is room for growth in time. But other states, I would say is to really focus in hone in more on preparing men and women for reentry, because 90% of those that are incarcerated are coming home, Ame. You know what I mean? So, if I don’t have access, I’m in another state outside of South Carolina, and I don’t have access to anything that’s gonna help me better myself, then I’m just gonna become a better criminal. That’s just to be completely honest.
-Areas for Change
Ame Sanders 32:23
So, our goal would be to help people before they enter the prison system. How do you feel we could make our justice That’s a big question, I know that.
Don Williams 32:44
That is. And I do have to give that a little thought.
Ame Sanders 32:50
Yeah, take your time. It’s okay.
Don Williams 32:51
Okay, so I’m just gonna speak from Don Williams’ perspective. One of the things that I’m working hard on to kind of prevent–if I just spoke off the top of my head, I would say, get involved at DJJ. Well, they are already in the system at that point. But I think just looking at society as a whole and still having teenage kids at home, I would say, in the school system. The middle schools, the high schools, the alternative schools, really educating those in leadership there on allowing–because they have assemblies and all different types of programs there–but allowing men and women such as myself to come inside and really share our stories with those children that may be living in a household where, say, for instance, drug activity is going on and been in the family for years and they just feel like this is what it is this and what I’m gonna be. Someone that could come in and mentor or speak, or some type of program set up to where someone who’s already walked down that road and made those poor decisions at that age, can come in and share with them that can kind of get the light bulb turned on to let them know that they have gifts and talents and other potential that if channeled in the right direction could change the trajectory of their lives. That would be a vision that Don Williams would like to see.
Is that something that everyone in the community dreams of? I don’t know. I don’t have the answer for that. But I would say really catching them in that middle school, high school, or like I said, the alternative school, because that mean they got kicked out of one of those schools and they kind of in that school-to-prison pipeline already and have been labeled or profiled as a troubled child. When in actuality, school is probably the most positive thing for him but then when they go home, then they are in an environment to where it’s like, “Man, I don’t need school as long as I know how to count money.”
Ame Sanders 35:21
Right. So, reaching kids at a point when they’re vulnerable at that risk and being able to have them see that there are other paths or other alternatives.
Don Williams 35:32
There are other paths. Because at that age, they’re like a sponge. They soak up everything. If you think about a sponge, and that sponge is dipped in a bucket of dirty water, when you wring it out, dirty water comes out, right? But if you can run that sponge under some clean water, even though it came out of a dirty bucket, and you run that sponge under some clean water, when you wring it a time or two a little brown water may come out, but eventually that water is going to become clearer, because you you’re running more clean water on it, than just keep dipping it back in that bucket and wringing it out. If that makes sense to you.
Ame Sanders 36:22
Don, that’s a powerful image for us to maybe close on. Well, thank you so much for joining us and thank you for sharing your personal story and your story of your brother’s life and death to help us understand just what can happen for folks when they’re coming home. So, thank you for sharing that and thank you for the difference that you make in the communities every day.
Don Williams 36:45
All right, thank you so much. I will say this for individuals that are in the community, because this is one thing that I get a lot in my work when I’m talking to individuals about getting involved as a volunteer or as a mentor. They feel as if they don’t have anything to bring to the table because they don’t have lived experience. But, what a lot of individuals don’t realize is that you may not have that lived experience, but another way that you can help, you may be connected to someone in the community that can make decisions on employment, on health care, and in other areas that can open up doors for the men and women that’s returning back to our community that’s within their circle.
Just a mere conversation with individuals in your circle and making them aware of what’s really going on can make a world of difference and could literally change generations. Because if one life is changed, then that person is going to make an impact in their family, and their children, their grandchildren, and great grandchildren and the legacy lives on.
So, I would just like to say to any of those that’s listening is although you may feel that you think there’s nothing that you could do hands-on for those that’s returning back to our community, look within your circle and see how can you influence others or make others aware of what’s going on that have the power to make decisions that can impact and change the trajectory of those that are returning back.
-Podcast Conclusion
Ame Sanders 38:31
Thank you, Don. I was thankful to have Don join us for this episode, and grateful that he was willing to share his own personal story and the story of his brother. Don also shared a little bit about how many systemic barriers men and women have to confront as they step outside the prison walls to rebuild their lives. Everything from identity documents to employment, to housing, health care and medication, mental health and counseling, and even what he called family reunification.
Don also reminded us that even if we feel we cannot directly contribute to this work, we can still work within our community to remove barriers, or assist with reentry in many ways, including by using our social capital and our network, to help open doors and create opportunities. It is so easy to close our hearts and our minds and our eyes to what our neighbors and fellow community members need. Still, Don reminded us that helping to change the trajectory of one life can ripple throughout our community and the days and even generations to come.
This has been the State of Inclusion Podcast. Join us again next time. And if you enjoyed this episode, the best compliment for our work is your willingness to share these ideas with others. Leave us a review. We’d love your comments. Thanks so much for listening.
CONTRIBUTORS
Guest: Don Williams
Host: Ame Sanders
Social Media and Marketing Coordinator: Kayla Nelson
Podcast Coordinator: Emma Winiski
Sound: FAROUT Media