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cos
<br />futures
<br />Forum addresses
<br />life after prison
<br />BY THONIASI MCDONALD
<br />STAFF WRITER
<br />RALEIGH -Garry Battle s biggest
<br />adjustment when he was released
<br />from prison in 2003 was not fmd~
<br />ing a job or learning to surf the In-
<br />ternet. It was seeing his friends
<br />and family members hooked on
<br />crack cocaine.
<br />"Crack wasn't like that when I
<br />left," said Battle, who was con-
<br />victed of seconfl.degree murder
<br />and served 17 years. "Young
<br />women prostituting themselves,
<br />That hurt me most, seeing my
<br />family members on drugs,"
<br />Bathe was a featured speaker at
<br />an ex-offenders' conference Sat-
<br />urday at the Building Together
<br />Ministries Neighborhood Center
<br />and Hope Charter School at 1119
<br />N, Blount Street. About 100 ex-
<br />cons, community support groups
<br />and activists attended the forum
<br />aimed at building better futures.
<br />The all-day event was billed as
<br />the first conference held for and
<br />by ex-offenders. It was the brain-
<br />child of Mazsha Gibbs of Step Out
<br />Ministries in Raleigh and Dennis
<br />Gaddy, an inmate at the Wake
<br />Correctional Center, Gaddy
<br />helped to start the Community
<br />Success Initiative -which seeks
<br />to develop leadership and re-
<br />sources in low-income areas -
<br />while on work release with the
<br />Good Work nonprofit in Durham,
<br />Gaddy has worked at the non-
<br />profit for the past three years as
<br />a leadership trainer and personnel
<br />coach.
<br />"You always hear about these
<br />conferences being held by people
<br />who haven't been to prison trying
<br />to give solutions," said ('caddy,
<br />who is also working toward ex-of-
<br />fender status, The warm, easy-
<br />going organizer will be released
<br />from prison June 20 after serv-
<br />~~~~~
<br />CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18
<br />ing a five-year prison sentence for
<br />what he described as "unwise fi-
<br />nancial choices."
<br />Gaddy said while serving time,
<br />he, Battle and others often talked
<br />about hosting a conference like
<br />Saturday's. "Who better than us
<br />would know the solutions?"
<br />Gaddy asked,
<br />Gaddy pointed to Battle, who
<br />now supervises a Raleigh scaffold-
<br />ing yard, as an example. Battle,
<br />who spoke at the conference, is a
<br />homeowner with a tWOrar garage
<br />and plans to mazry in September,
<br />Another speaker, evangelist
<br />Gloria McCauley of Burlington,
<br />served about three years in prison
<br />after being convicted of embez-
<br />zlement and possession of co-
<br />caine. She founded and directs
<br />God Did It Recovery House For
<br />Women. She operates two tran-
<br />sitionalhouses for women with a
<br />third one set to open in Manteo
<br />for women and children.
<br />Ex-offenders trying to readjust
<br />to society are often hit with hazsh
<br />realities when they return to the
<br />streets, They may have difficulty
<br />finding a job or have unrealistic
<br />expectations. Many feel thrown
<br />away or forgotten,
<br />'Persistence, but first of all the
<br />Lord," McCauley answered when
<br />asked how she made the transition
<br />from prison into the mainstream,
<br />"Why not share some success
<br />stories?" Gaddy asked. "You al-
<br />wayshear about the negative stuff,
<br />but we had some stories here today
<br />that would blow peoples' minds,"
<br />Those at Saturday's conference
<br />all said family, church and com-
<br />munitysupport are necessary for
<br />recently released ex-cons.
<br />Topics at the conference included
<br />the disproportionate number of
<br />African-Americans in prison.
<br />"You remember those cam-
<br />paigns tostop teenage pregnancy
<br />years ago?" Battle asked. "The
<br />Attachment 2
<br />kids 1 saw coming to prison were
<br />the products of those pregnan-
<br />cies. Now the mom is 36 and the
<br />lcid is 16. Mom is at [Raleigh
<br />nightclubs]. What does the kid
<br />do? He gets into trouble."
<br />,For Rev. D, L. McCoy, the need
<br />to heed the words of the old
<br />African parable, "It takes a vil-
<br />lage to raise a child," bas never
<br />been greater
<br />'Tm tired of seeing my people get
<br />tinglorked up," saidMcCoy, pastor
<br />of the Pleasant Hffi United Church
<br />of Christ o(f I,alce Wheeler Road.
<br />"[Prison] is modern day slavery,"
<br />McCoy said every sector of the
<br />black community, particularly the
<br />church, needs to engage the is-
<br />sue. "They are building mega
<br />churches in our neighborhood and
<br />they aren't doing nothing," said
<br />McCoy, who lives off Sanderford
<br />Road,
<br />Staff writer Thomasi McDonald
<br />can be reached at 829-4533
<br />or tmcdanalCtnewsobserveccom.
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<br />SEE FUTURES, PAGE 78
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