Articles & News

December 1, 2008

Volunteers work to help ex-convicts find jobs

By ANDREW GOODRIDGE, The Daily Sentinel

A group of local volunteers are working together to develop a program to help ex-convicts transition back into the workforce.

Nacogdoches citizen Cottrell McGowan founded a similar program in New Orleans, and now he is looking to implement one here, as well. McGowan is working with a group of about 15 retired school teachers, principals, preachers, and railroad conductors. McGowan said the group is not affiliated with a church or other organization.

"(The ex-convicts) should be able to come out of prison and be productive citizens in our community," McGowan said. "We want these people to have a chance like everybody else."

McGowan said he hopes to be able to work with individuals before they are even released from jail.

"We'll communicate with them while they're in prison. In fact, we can communicate with the employer. Once he goes to work, we've already laid a foundation for him," he said. "Once they get a job, we can be a liaison between him and the employer."

County Attorney Jeff Davis also said the program is a much-needed form or rehabilitation for the county.

"I believe if somebody does wrong then there needs to be consequences. But once somebody has paid their debt to society, there should be options other than returning to drugs or crime or that lifestyle," Davis said. "There are so many folks who could benefit and would not be repeat offenders if they had the benefits of this program."

Pct. 2 Commissioner Reggie Cotton said the program would be "very worthwhile" because the inmates would have steady support from a mentor. Cotton also said the program could benefit local businesses because there are tax credits for employers who choose to participate in a reentry program.

County Judge Joe English and Cotton recently went to Fort Worth with the group to look at Tarrant County's reentrance program, which English said is very similar to the New Orleans program that McGowan created. English said a program in Nacogdoches will help the community in many ways.

"I'm always looking at ways to fix jail-overcrowding issues. One of the problems is that when people get out of jail, they can't find anyone to hire them and they end up going back to their old ways," English said.

Though the group is looking to expand its efforts to help people readjust after prison, the volunteers already spend their time as mentors for children at local elementary schools. McGowan said the group makes weekly mentoring trips to Thomas J. Rusk Elementary, Carpenter Elementary, Brooks-Quinn-Jones Elementary, and Nettie Marshall Elementary.

"Our mentor program in the schools doesn't only deal with the educational part of it. We also deal with the attitudes and the behavioral problems and these young people," McGowan said. "We're not there just for show. We're there to make these young people more productive and give them a little bit more self-esteem.

McGowan said anyone who is interested in participating in the program can call 564-7194, but he warns that the volunteers work hard and put in a significant amount of time.

"We don't want anyone coming in if they don't want to work," he said.