Dear Reader,

So many societal issues cause us to pause and reflect how we could do better. One that gets attention is our correctional facility system. Is it punishment or is it remedial? Answering that question is not going to happen in this month’s blog. However, I want to shine a light on a group that is doing great work in assisting those who finish their prison sentence and are now back in our communities.

You will hear the horrific account of one gentleman’s heartache as he talks about his crime. You will follow his path as The Reentry Initiative enters his life. The nonprofit assists those who have been incarcerated as they “reenter” society.  Emily Kleeman, executive director, said the goal is to “transition from surviving to thriving”. I hope you enjoy this story. I learned a lot and I look forward to hearing your comments. Reader, do you know or love someone who had a long prison term and is now back in society? What were some of their initial concerns?

 

Let’s start with an introduction to Michael O’Shaughnessy. Over six decades ago, he was born and raised in a southeast suburb of Denver, Colorado. His father was a teacher, then an assistant principal and later named principal. His mother was a homemaker when the children were young. Later, she too became a teacher. There were seven children in the O’Shaughnessy family – five girls and two boys. Michael was the third child. How many siblings do you have Reader? What role did you play in your family dynamics?

Michael says he has a lot of good memories about his childhood. During his teen years at Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver he played corner position on the football team. It became one of his passions. “I played football all of my life from peewee until I was 40-years-old,” he said. Reader, what is your passion?

Michael graduated from high school in 1973. “I didn’t have a plan other than I wanted to make money,” he said. Michael started his career in the warehouses in the Denver area where he worked for the next decade.

Michael’s first interaction with the law happened in his early 20s when he received a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge. He had to stay in jail overnight. After an expensive ordeal with the courts and attorneys, Michael said he had to pay fines and lost his license for a year.

His career progressed and Michael moved into retail. It was still in the warehouse industry working with products sold from catalogues. For the next fifteen years he pursued this line of work.

Then in his early 40s, he had his second brush with the law when he received a failure to appear in court. Michael said that after two decades, he can’t remember the charges, but he remembers having to spend 24 hours in jail and paying a fine. Reader, do you have a history with law enforcement? Was it a positive or negative experience?

In 1997, Michael married in Reno, Nevada and three months later, the couple agreed to have the marriage annulled. He never married again.

After his work in the warehouse, Michael began to learn the skill of designing retail stores. Eventually he was hired with a large well-known retail store. Michael was under the impression that he would become a member of the design team that created new stores. He stayed four years, but he was assigned to do more sales on the floor than he was design work.

Disappointed, Michael resigned and went into the roofing business. He also did autobody work. Those two skills provided Michael’s income until his retirement years. Reader, have you been able to accomplish your career goals? If so, what is something you learned in the process?

By the time Michael was in his late 40s, he had a long history of body fractures and damage to his skull. Playing football and injuries while in the roofing profession led Michael to start using pain medications. “I’ve had my shoulder dislocated over 500 times,” he said.

He was also in a car crash. His friend was driving. It was the 50s and they did not have seatbelts. When their car careened into another car, Michael incurred head trauma and his teeth stuck to the dashboard.

As well, he endured three bike accidents which he described as always occurring in the same way. A driver would not see Michael. They’d hit him head on. Michael would hit the hood, then crash against the windshield and then he would go flying into the air. All three times, the drivers never stopped. Michael would be injured and his glasses broken. Reader, have you ever been in a serious vehicle accident?

In the early years Michael was able to use over-the-counter medications or a mild prescription. He would use the medicine for the time required and he said he did not need a refill.

However, as the years passed, Michael said his pain became less manageable. He started using prescriptions such OxyContin for a femur injury that occurred when his motorized scooter hit a pothole. “The scooter stopped, but I kept going,’ he said. Reader, are you someone with chronic pain? What are your management treatments?

Michael had always been around people that use stronger drugs. Friends offered to share, but for decades Michael was not interested in illegal drugs. “OxyContin soothed the flare-ups,” he said.

However, that all changed in 2006. Michael was sharing a home with a roommate. She was a heroin user, and over time Michael became drawn to this drug. He eventually started using heroin. He said within three months, he became addicted. Reader, have you ever had to deal with a chemical addiction? Was it you or a loved one? How did you manage?

Two weeks before a fateful day in his near-future, Michael and his roommate got into an argument over money for heroin. Michael accused his roommate of stealing his money. The fight escalated and the roommate locked Michael out of the house. “To diffuse the situation,” Michael said, “I went to stay at a neighbor’s house.” He stayed there for two weeks.

A couple weeks later, Michael’s wallet was stolen. After a few days of laborious reordering of his identification cards, Michael decided to celebrate.

That morning, Michael started drinking alcohol. Then he walked across the street to order a sandwich and buy more liquor. That’s when he saw his ex-roommate. Fueled by the alcohol, Michael’s anger erupted, and an argument ensued.

“I want my money,” Michael said to her.

“Go to hell,” she responded.

Then in a crazed rage, Michael stabbed her.

Many witnesses saw this horrendous confrontation. Michael, in panic, ran to his home. One of the witnesses followed him, and within minutes the police were at Michael’s house.

“I knew it was my time to man-up,” Michael said. He went outside to talk to the police. While he stood there, a police officer drove a witness past the house “to identify me as the man who did the stabbing,” Michael said.

Regretfully, Michael looks back at this time in his life. “I’ve never hit a woman in my life. Then I stabbed this woman,” he said. “She was just trying to get her groceries. She now always has to remember this. Because someone like me flipped out. It was the worst thing I have ever done. I can never make up for it.” Reader, did you ever do something that weighs heavily on you?

Michael spent over a year in jail waiting for his trial. “It was horrible,” he said. “The worst you could image.” After going through two attorneys, his trial convened. “I knew I was guilty,” he said.

Then 48-years-old, Michael was sentenced to 56 years. He also paid $5000 in fines and damages. For a number of reasons (with a lot of legalese explanations), Michael served 16 years.

Before his release, he had contracted COVID-19, had COPD (a chronic lung disease) and other respiratory problems. While in prison, he said he learned to trust most of the guards. He said he avoided the hardcore fellow-inmates and the gangs. “I didn’t hang with any of them,” he said. He was recognized, at his parole hearing, as a “model prisoner”.

Michael didn’t know until the last minute that he would be released from prison on June 4, 2020. He needed to find an approved place to stay for parole requirements. Michael’s sister allowed him to stay at her home. “It was a lifesaver,” he said. While staying in her home, Michael’s responsibilities include taking care of the grounds – lawncare, weeding, gardening. She is older and no longer able to do these tasks. So, the arrangement was a huge help to her too, Michael said.

Settled in his sister’s home, Michael still needed to provide for his own lodging and needs. Food, clothing, and work were huge concerns because he didn’t want to incur a huge debt with his sister.

Before he left prison, Michael received a pamphlet telling him places to contact. However, the information was not updated and Michael was being released when our country was in the early stages of a worldwide pandemic. Places were closed and Michael didn’t know where to get the help he needed. Reader, in your life, what changes occurred because of the pandemic?

Michael was put in touch with The Reentry Initiative and for that, he is very grateful. In those first months, The Reentry Initiative guided and trained Michael as he reentered the community again. “You have a lot of scary moments when you first get out,” Michael said. Reader, what is a time in your life when you were afraid and did not know where to turn for help?

Michael had not had good healthcare during his time in jail. He needed glasses, medical treatment, clothing – all the items needed for daily living – and The Reentry Initiative helped him connect to those resources.

The Reentry Initiative is a grassroots nonprofit organization that was started because of the caring concern and donations from community members who wanted to assist people as they came out of the Colorado prison systems. It is a way to help “transition from surviving to thriving”, Emily said.

The agency started in 2016. Its first program started by working with women who were incarcerated at the Denver Women’s Correction Facility. The Reentry Initiative would regularly meet with the women a year or more before their release date. They worked on issues such as mental health and long-term goal setting. When a woman was released, someone from The Reentry Initiative would connect with that woman on her first day out. The Reentry Initiative then continued working with them throughout their parole time and in some cases longer.

Emily Kleeman, the executive director, was hired by Reentry in 2018. Through her work, she was able to secure a federal grant for Reentry programs.

Talking about the agency’s work with Michael, Emily reflects on The Reentry Initiative’s input in Michael’s life. At the time that Michael was about to be released, it was in the early stages of the pandemic 2020, she said. Everyone was trying to figure out how to run services while social distancing. “It was a challenging time.”

However, The Reentry Initiative team found a way to provide services. One of the first goals was for Michael to learn technology. This meant smart phones, sending and receiving texts, emailing, the Internet, Google Chrome, Windows 10 and Zoom. The Reentry Initiative team said that when “Michael had entered prison sixteen years earlier, pay phones were still in use.” Now with the use of the new technology, The Reentry Initiative was able to hold online meetings with Michael.

Another huge component of Michael’s initiatives focused on his mental health. Michael and The Reentry Initiative employees met on a weekly basis to discuss his coping skills and how to process his everyday experiences. They also assisted Michael with communication skills.

As well, Michael was encouraged to engage in goal planning. He was guided in how to identify, set and meet goals. The team members told me they really admired Michael’s dedication to reach those goals. Michael said “I learned to create realistic dates and now I am working on my goals.”

Michael now rents from his sister. He is working towards getting his driver’s license and saving to buy a vehicle. Michael said that the people he is working with in The Reentry Initiative “are lifesavers. They are what I needed most.”

Those who participate in The Reentry Initiative are called members, Emily explained. “Members are not mandated to do the work required; it is their choice towards self-sufficiency,” she said.

Members are encouraged to take responsibility and make decisions about their future. They are guided in skills that allow them to make healthy choices so that they can develop a plan for their independence. It typically takes three to six months of working with members on a weekly basis, Emily said.

The Reentry Initiative takes in about five new members each month and is currently serving 40 people on a consistent basis monthly. It averages about 72 new members annually.

Emily described the typical person served by The Reentry Initiative. It is someone who has a prison sentence. They are of medium to high risk in terms of their needs such as housing and food. Reentry services are open to anyone who has just been discharged or is currently on parole. Quite a few may have some mental health concerns or may have been involved with substance abuse. They typically have employment and educational needs too.

The Reentry Initiative’s funding comes by individual donations. They also get some government funding with a specific designation for assistance to those reentering the community from prison.

The Reentry Initiative is a one-stop shop that brings dignity and respect to the members as they work to turn their lives in a new direction. The Reentry Initiative programs include:

• TRIumph – Pre-Release program that works with women from the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility up to 1 year before release to assist with mental health and transition to their community
• The Wellness Center – addresses mental and behavioral health needs; individual and group treatment for trauma, addiction, resiliency and recovery
• Welcome Back Center & TRIumph Post Release– a team that works with members on issues such as housing, employment, transportation, education and basic living needs;
• TRI Shop – a free boutique inside Longmont’s Welcome Back Center supplied with clothing, hygiene and home good donations from the community;
• Computer Lab – assists member in technology skills, access to Wi-Fi/internet.

I’ve included Reentry Initiative contact information at the bottom of this blog. If you know someone who may need these services or you want to give a donation, please contact Emily. While Michael’s story is at times difficult to read, it is important. As a community, how do we address these concerns? The Reentry Initiative is one avenue that offers solutions. Reader, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

Last month, you were introduced to author and public speaker, Leslie Gray Streeter. Linda said, “What a terrific blog!  I just ordered the book!!” Mandy said, “Loved this blog.” Others shared that they are eager to visit with Leslie during the February 17th Zoom visit. As well, a number of people commented with statements such as “loved her story” or “wow”. One person who wanted to remain anonymous said, “Thank you for telling this story.” If you still want to register for this class, here are the instructions: The event is a Celebrity Sit-In with an Author: hosted by Debbie Noel.  On February 17, 2022, 9 am to 10:30 am MT, (10 am Central, 11 am EST, 8 am Pacific) you will have the opportunity to meet with Leslie Gray Streeter.

She is a well-known journalist who has written for numerous publications nationwide. Her first book is titled, “Black Widow”. The session will be a Q & A time to get to know her and more about her writings. She is delightful, funny, witty and an inspirational speaker. As a journalist, one of her strengths is her ability to analyze and discuss our world. As well, she has a personal love for relevant news in the entertainment world.

 I recommend, if possible, read “Black Widow” so that you know more of her story before the Q & A. If you want information about stores that are offering a book discount, please message me.

This will be a Zoom session. A link will be provided to you the night before the event. The cost is $5 and all proceeds go to the Friends of the Longmont Senior Center. To register, call the Longmont Senior Center – (303) 651-8411. Registration number for this event is: #183024.00; $5 Resident of Longmont, Colorado, $6 Non-Resident

  

Until next month, may peace be at your side,

Debbie Noel

We have several ways to interact with Debbie!

• Instagram: Find me with the handle @dropinwithdebbie or visit https://www.instagram.com/dropinwithdebbie/

• Facebook: Tag me with @DropinwithDebbie or visit https://www.facebook.com/DropInWithDebbie/  to like and follow!

• Email her at DroppingInWithDebbie@gmail.com

• Register with the site (very bottom of the page) to have your comments viewed online

• Send your letters to:

Debbie Noel
C/o Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Avenue
Longmont, Colorado 80501

Here are two phone numbers for how to reach The Reentry Initiative: 720-640-9513 or 720-640-9514 

From Emily Kleeman: If you are interested in donating or becoming involved with The Reentry Initiative, please email Info@reentryinitiative.org. Be sure to follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thereentryinitiative  and look out for upcoming events on our website www.reentryinitiative.org