Reentry fair helping incarcerated individuals prepare for the future on the other side
WESTOVER, Md. – Eastern Correctional Institution is preparing inmates for life on the other side.
Officials say inmates serve time, but what matters is putting them in a position so they don’t come back. Recidivism is a continuing issue but here at the fair, nearly 400 individuals got the opportunity to prepare for life outside these walls so they don’t end up back at the Eastern Correctional Institution.
“Ultimately the end goal is to connect individuals that are going home back to our communities and connect them with jobs. Everyone that’s here today will be at least within five years of release, within months and or weeks, so we want to connect them with the employment experience,” says Robert Green, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Incarceration Stigma
There’s a stigma around hiring formerly incarcerated individuals however one employer tells us they make some of the best employees. Flagger Force Workforce Manager Shea Zwerver says, “What we’re seeing is as a company we’re committed to looking at everyone on an individual basis and if you’re reliable and willing to work and have that mentality of getting out there and wanting to take on jobs which we’re noticing, a lot of people that have been incarcerated that. They have that motivation because a lot of them may be feeling a little behind because they’ve spent time being incarcerated but they want to get out there and get to work, get busy and start earning so we’re finding that some of them are the most motivated audience and people that we’ve ever worked with.,”
Next Steps
Josh Blank is soon to be released and tells us he’s ready to work. “Anything hands-on, carpentry building stuff, fixing stuff,” says Blank.
“We have programs here that are everything from the mechanic, diesel mechanic, car repair to our local processing, plant work, delivery work, we have an incredible selection,” says Robert Green, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Blank is also looking forward to “my kids, getting my kids back and getting back to work . . . hopefully getting a job and getting out of here,” he adds.
Preparation
Eddie Neal tells us he is already using tools at the ECI Annex to be successful on the other side. “Actually working with the jobs we have here and preparing myself. I go out every day I started in the road crew, picking trash, then I advanced to the Hebron Carnival, then I worked for the Wicomico Fair. So with all those fairs, it’s kind of preparing me to make my next step,” says Neal.
Being only a few months away from release he says it’s opportunities like these that help them thrive. “I strongly recommend that more people come here and give us opportunity, to provide a way for our families and also to better this matter,” says Neal.
Green says that if individuals weren’t able to find a job Thursday, they at least have the opportunity to learn how the job force works. He says it’s important to give these individuals a chance and that means setting them up for success after their sentence.
