From Weld, which is uh a re-entry system after the justice system.

Um, and we have Jim Chambers tonight, the outreach and government relations manager to give us an update on the good work they're doing.

So welcome, Jim.

Thank you.

I want to thank the council for allowing me to present tonight.

I know that re-entry off it isn't seen as a sexy thing to hear about, but you know, Weld is an organization that not only sees themselves as a re-entry organization, we are also a public safety organization because we prevent future harm for people that are returning home already from incarceration and things like that.

Um so I'm gonna present a few slides to you guys, and then I'll talk as we go along about really what we do and why we do it the way we do.

Thank you.

Um so well does Weld is really working people, working with people from the time they work out, walk out the doors, and oftentimes before they walk out the doors of prisons.

Um I myself served 23 years in prison.

So I understand the things that people go through when they're coming home.

And a lot of folks don't really talk about you know the mental health and dealing with the trauma of prison and trying to reunify with your family.

And um, and what we realized is a lot of people that are coming home, um, don't really do the internal work that's needed.

So, like we can give them a house and we can give them a job.

Um, but that stuff doesn't stick unless they do the internal work.

So, what Weld is doing currently is we are working with folks that are um either in work release or immediately returning home from prisons or jails.

And so we bring them into our organization, they go through our orientation and do an assessment, and we sign them up for what's called Weld Month, which is a paid program where we pay people to attend.

And um oftentimes it gives people a 30-day catch-your breath type uh moment where we go through um, we do digital literacy, financial literacy, health and wellness, sobriety skills.

Um, they build community with each other, and we also give them a stipend so they have a little money in their pocket.

Um, they build resumes, they work on second chance employment, how to do interviews and all the things that people need to build skills.

And when they're done with the program, they leave with a laptop, a resume, and all the things they need to start applying for jobs.

But they also are enrolled in our clinical case management program and our peer support program.

So we have we have peers that work with folks, and we also have clinical staff that work with folks for their mental health stuff and and all the other medical needs they need.

But um, as you can see, 31% of the people exiting prison in Washington are reincarcerated within three years, um, which is pretty low compared to some states actually, but there's a reason behind all that too.

So, how people arrive in prison.

So, oftentimes people that go to prison are in crisis.

They're they're full-blown addiction, they have a lot of fractured relationships, limited education, and most are coming from poverty.

Um, you know, just a little about myself.

I was kind of in the middle of the spectrum.

I grew up in a house with addiction.

I grew up with in a house where there was a lot of domestic violence and things like that.

But um I also enjoyed the privilege of being white when I was a juvenile.

So I would get driven home oftentimes when other kids would go to jail.

Um, and I understand that because when I I never went to jail or anything until I was 23 years old.

And I was on a roller coaster with addiction since I was a teenager.

Um, and then I got my first felony when I was 21 years old.

Um, and then years later, I relapsed with a gambling addiction and um started selling meth to support my gambling because I lost my job and all the things.

And then I ended up with a 40-year prison sentence for manufacturing methamphetamines, possession of a firearm, stolen vehicles, and a vehicle accident where I took someone's life.

Um and for 23 years, I was in prison.

I pretty much positively programmed.

I taught parenting classes, I did all kinds of stuff to try to rebuild my life.

But there was a there was a point in in prison where I made a decision that I wasn't gonna be the person from the past.

And because of the parenting stuff and all the things I was doing, I was able to separate myself from all the prison hostility, the gangs, the racial division that goes on inside our prisons, because parenting crosses every barrier.

And so I was able to work with everyone in prison and do things to support dads in prison.

And I wrote a program for parent teacher conferences that DOC still uses today.

So parents can call home and do parent teacher conferences.

But that's because I was given an opportunity in prison to be in a prison where there was programming and things like that.

And oftentimes people are in prison, they're in survival mode.

They're not even thinking about working on the things that brought them to prison.

Um what leads people to prison.

Um that I talked to came from foster care.

They came from our systems.

They are definitely system impacted folks.

Um many were victims first.

A lot of men won't say it and don't admit it, but they were victims as children, and they've never dealt with this stuff.

And so that's what Weld is currently working on is bringing people in and helping them work on all the internal stuff so that the addiction doesn't keep occurring or the or the crimes don't keep occurring in their life.

This is me.

I'm not usually the presenter of this, someone else is usually presenting.

So how I arrived at prison was a very broken man who left his children and left his family, cause a lot of harm in our community.

And it took me a few years to really reconcile myself as even being being able to be a parent or do the things I was supposed to do as a as a man and as a person.