Though some community members worry about a lack of cooperation among Chattanooga’s prisoner re-entry programs, they note that the area has plenty of resources to meet the needs of ex-offenders.
E.W. Keener, a 48-year-old repeat offender now enrolled in the House of Refuge program, run through Church of the First Born in St. Elmo, credits much of his recent success on both the halfway house and the Chattanooga-based Transformation Project.
The Transformation Project, a Christian-based ministry, provides mentorship and spiritual guidance, something Mr. Keener said he desperately needed.
“Once you’ve got God in your life, it makes it much easier to do good,” he said.
For Ronnie Rogers, also a repeat offender, it was Chattanooga Endeavors, Alexian Brothers Senior Neighbors and Hamilton County Project Access that provided help.
Project Access provided him free treatment for prostate cancer, while Senior Neighbors offered computer training and used federal grant money to pay for his part-time job as a receptionist at Endeavors.
In addition to creating the receptionist job to help him practice his interpersonal skills, Endeavors has provided mentorship and guidance, Mr. Rogers said.
“I’m just so thankful I’ve had so many people help me,” he said. “I can’t believe it. Everybody’s being so kind and supportive, even with the record I’ve had.”
Thaddeus Twitty, meanwhile, thanks A Better Tomorrow, a Chattanooga-based nonprofit organization created by his mentor, Richard Bennett. Mr. Twitty, 22, said his biological father is not around, so having a male figure in his life has been key.
Mr. Twitty already has shared his story in schools for A Better Tomorrow and hopes his message will warn others against making some of the same mistakes. The eight-week, in-school program targets troubled youth before they go to jail — the type of program he wishes he’d had.
“I had to learn the hard way,” he recently told a group of students at the Washington School.
These few organizations are by no means the only ones that help former offenders, according to Endeavors Chief Executive Officer Tim Dempsey. The nonprofit organizations could do more if they were better coordinated to specifically target prisoner re-entry, he said.
“The desire is to connect these resources,” Mr. Dempsey said. “If we could put our mind to it and identify any gaps in services, we could see a steady decline in crime. It would be less burden on the police department, less burden on the jail and less burden to the community.”
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