Ranging in age from 18 to 47, they are all former addicts or dealers with little education and few skills, the detritus of the drug-ravaged Druid Heights section. Smothers and the others have jobs today because of a rare community development project. Recognizing that construction companies were not hiring unskilled workers with criminal pasts, community leaders decided to build their own construction crew. The workers rehabilitate abandoned or rundown houses that are then rented to low-income families. In 1998 alone, almost 900 ex-convicts were released into the neighborhood of less than 5,000 residents.
Guys fall back to what they know.
Fisher says people re-entering society have to be reprogrammed. A lot of them still don't have a clue about the boundaries. Some ex-cons returning to Druid Heights may soon have an opportunity to get that kind of preparation. The area will be one of 17 in a public-private pilot program to reduce recidivism. If the program works, community leaders will ask for funds to expand it.