Doug Peterson, Board President:
We are so pleased to have welcomed Haywood to our “home” in January. Since then he has been under the care of William and Tommy and has fully participated in the SWIT training and oversight. His words that follow are a testimony to the work and mission of Reentry House Plus. All of our efforts are geared to give Haywood, - and so many others whose stories could easily mirror Haywood’s - a second chance by providing a safe and nurturing environment. There they can build a framework of “self-worth” that provides a sound foundation for a successful path back into society.
Reentry Horror / Divine Rescue
by Haywood P.
Before, and upon release from, fifty years of incarceration, optimism filled my expectations for reintegration into society and of reentry facilities. However, my optimism for a time turned into pessimism.
For twenty one months after my release, on June 21, 2021, “NO” in its various cloaks came from about everywhere I turned for help. I must credit MacDonald’s in Fayetteville, NC for giving me my first job. But I could not do the job because my mother came home from a nursing home and required my full-time attention. I needed income. Bills had to be paid. So when I could get extra care for my mother, I sought daily wages from a Moving and Storage Company. That lasted two days. Each day my employers sneered at me and paid me indirectly through a co-worker. On the morning of the third day, my employer informed me, via my co-worker, that ‘there was no work for me", after she had told me the previous day, “Come back tomorrow, there’s plenty of work.” Discrimination. Rejection. My pain was pervasive.
Vocational Rehabilitation in Fayetteville assigned a caseworker to me. Despite meeting their criteria (e.g., attending orientation, getting a doctor’s confirmation of my health complaints, etc), I never got anything from them except a fetid string of broken promises.
Then came Mr. J.G. of NC Works in Fayetteville. He identified with me, because he was confined for 14 years. While I talked with him on the telephone, I heard him start planning a vacation. That went on for about ten minutes. I was totally forgotten. So I hung up the phone.
Though some reentry advocates for justice involved people are sincere and diligent there are too many who are disinterested and self-interested, like Mr. J.G. who also operates a transition house (as told to me by my parole officer and Case Manager). They stand outside the gates of prison (de facto slavery per the 13 Amendment , and yet they beckon the destitute freedmen with proclamations from their mission statements: “Jobs. Health Care. Housing. Acculturation.” Though these hypocrites have helped some, they have done absolutely nothing to facilitate my reentry into society. Today I am still struggling. But if there were one case like mine, that is one case too many!
Meanwhile, sibling rivalry led me to homelessness twice, jail for twelve days, and court incarceration for four months. My youngest brother threatened my life during an argument at home. I left the house to avoid escalation; and I experienced homelessness for the first time. The second experience of homelessness occurred when my sister, using a legal instrument called “power of attorney”, evicted me from my mother’s house, where I was paroled June 24, 2021. She also pressed two criminal and two civil charges against me.
Because of these charges, my Parole Officer jailed me (requiring me to stay a certain distance from my sister). The Parole Board put an ankle monitor on me.
The eviction separated me from my mother and forbade any contact, such as phone calls, letters or speaking. I began a journey through five unfamiliar houses (three were transition houses). And I experienced repeated rejection on the job market.
On the tenth of each successive month from November2022, to February, 2023, I appeared in Cumberland County Court. Then from there to Raleigh, Durham and Hillsborough, under great duress including the threat of being returned to prison for failure to appear in court.
But through it all, Christ planned deliverance for me. From fifty years of suffering and shame in prison, he delivered me. From twenty months of stigma and rejection in the job market, He Delivered Me. I HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED SINCE 7 March, 2023. Hallelujah!
From ruthless, selfish, incompetent reentry functionaries, HE DELIVERED ME. The Court found me not guilty of all charges [after Andy MacIntosh,House Manager, drove me to court in Fayetteville]. My sister who took the witness stand against me apologized and expressed her love to me during my visit with my mother on 21 March, 2023. And she allowed me to take my mother’s car so that I now have transportation to work.
FROM IT ALL, CHRIST DELIVERED ME. AND “TO CHRIST BE THE GLORY. AMEN.
(Editor: We have seen and participated with Haywood in this remarkable journey toward healing and recovery. He has become a model and witness to the healing and love of God, mediated through the presence and support of staff and volunteers at RHP. THIS IS TRULY A STORY OF HOPE!)
