Employment resources to help ex-prisoners - and also if YOU are a job seeker

The names used below are pseudonyms.

Mary Ann spent thousands of dollars to get her son released from prison.

David is living at home, but like most people, he wants a home of his own and most of all, a good job.

David has bipolar disorder, which did contribute to his felony, but his illness is successfully stabilized. In conjunction with his terms of parole, he sees a psychiatrist on a regular basis.

WHERE can David work?

At New Directions, founded in 1986, we have seen literally hundreds of people go to prison. Many do well in prison, gaining a new-found understanding of their behavior, visiting the library to expand their minds, taking courses, and even becoming religious.

In the early days of New Directions, a fellow named Abe came to the meeting. He was accompanied by his wife.

Abe told us he was 28 and had been psychotic - out-of-reality thinking - and had trespassed onto a neighbor's property. He let himself in the house through an unlocked back door and had made himself at home in the kitchen, eating and drinking whatever he pleased.

Fortunately, since they knew him, they didn't press charges.

Here are a few resources we recommend. Please check them out yourself to make sure they are reliable and trustworthy.

JEVS.  View JEVS here.

The above is a great place as we had a couple of speakers from the Jewish Employment Vocational Service.

On our ND website we list "Companies who hire ex-offenders."

Click here for Breaking the Chains of a Felony Conviction.

Below is Orleans Technical School in Philly, another excellent facility. Click here.

Also Goodwill. Click here for good ole Goodwill.

I found the following on the Internet.

Click here. 

This is a 35-page manual Pennsylvania Reentry Survival Manual written by Rutgers University in conjunction with the PA Department of Corrections.

***

A friend of a friend was imprisoned for five long years in a prison in Reading, PA. He did have bipolar disorder which was what got him into trouble. He was able to have his two children visit him in prison.

In prison, he learned how to become a barber, so he is now gainfully employed.

***

As you may know, I'm a poet and a writer. I recently wrote this short story about prison life - Straight Up to the Stars - which was published here.