how many ex cons do we have out here in the forums?

i wish to say congrads and i hope you are all surviving and making things good and if you need anything just a person to talk with or help in anyway i am here. good luck with everything you do and i hope it is very successful for you.

We Are Everywhere---everywhere Oops There Goes Another One!!!!

hello that is funny thank you i have been down and crying today that made me giggles thanks

I have been out since 2/1985, released from Alderson, WV, my husband is still down after 25 years. Currently, I am a senior litigation paralegal in a civil law firm in New Orleans. Dreams do come true. I am just waiting on him, hopefully California will let him go in 2007.

I served exactly 15 years in federal custody, released on July 24, 1999. And doing just splendid.

Hello from NewZealand.And yes the grass is greener on the outside!!Cheers

Ooops there goes another one.

Peace

Howdy..

I was just released after doing some revocation time. It's great to be back! So far, al's well.

Greg

I served exactly 15 years in federal custody, released on July 24, 1999. And doing just splendid.
You absolutely made my day, gives me hope for my man. Thank you SO much and god bless you.

20 months in FCI Elkton, home early on order for immediate release, now home 19 months. Doing fine.

i've been out for 14 months and its not too good

I served short time at SCP Atwater. I've been "out" since 4/05– longer than I was "in". I'm doing ok, my family is well, and I am employed. It was tough for a while though.

I'm in contact directly and indirectly with a few people I met while I was away. A few guys are out now, after being down for 15, 20+ years. From what I can tell they are doing the best they can in a halfway house environment.

Employment is a tough one though. There are fewer and fewer job opportunities that offer family-sustaining income in America's urban centers. Even people coming out of college are having trouble "finding their way." As you can imagine, people coming out of prison find even greater obstacles, due to environmental and internal factors that make "re-entry" tough.

Our economy, deflated by wasteful foreign policies and residence development-driven chambers of commerce, has created a disinvestment from our communties, leaving entire urban generations "high and dry" without industry or career paths. It's no secret that low income communities and communties of color are the hardest hit. Still, the "middle of the road" is disappearing and more and more people will find their communities left out. You think prisons are crowded now...

KrisFed,

You seem to have an informed and philisophical perspective. I would be interested in hearing your, and other former inmates, thoughts on what services would be helpful to ex-offenders.
There is federal, state, and private grant money available to create programs to assist in re-entry. The communities that are hardest hit should be taking some proactive steps to help ex-offenders and their families get back on track.

As we watch the US prison population soar past 2 million, it would be interesting to get the figures on the current numbers of citizens who are former inmates. This is a rapidly growing demographic in need of services, but kept in society's shadow by the stigma.

What are some of the most successful re-entry programs in the country now? How can they be replicated in other regions? What else is needed that isn't being offered anywhere?

Home from FCI Terminal Island.

14 mos ta FPC Bryan womens camp...home now just over a year!!!!

Did 2yrs at FCI Elkton & 1 at FMC Lexington, Finished 3 yrs supervised release 4/05 and doing fine. They wont see me again