Real reentry: Keep Going

by McKenzie Ring, Director of Marketing + Communications

I like to come into the office early. Oftentimes when the traffic on Farnam Street is sleepy and the sun is still waking up from behind the Blackstone Plaza. Sure, I'm an early riser (no pun intended) - but I set the intention of savoring quiet morning moments to reflect on the work we're doing. It fuels my passion of telling the story of RISE, the people we work with, and the growth of our community.

It was on one of those quiet mornings in June that I shuffled in (chugging my coffee) and checked the mail. There was a handwritten letter from a man, we'll call him "Ben", who graduated from one of our first In-Prison Program cohorts back in 2018.

I remembered him well. So young - 7 years my junior. Shy. Quiet as the morning I was reading his letter. I vividly remember feeling his heart ignite as his young son skipped into his graduation day holding a handmade sign scribbled, "Daddy, Keep Going. Doing amazing. Congradulations!!!"

"Ben" has been out between then and now, and like so many, struggled with the disease of addiction. People who've been incarcerated and live with the disease of addiction are at a heightened risk of relapse and recidivism (going back to prison). It's a heartbreaking fact, but one RISE will always (and does) face daily.

Addiction is a battle in war fought solo and head-on, wearing messy armor, amid fall-downs and get-ups, with an army behind you that can only give tools during the fight, provide nourishment, cheer-ons, and protect your back from an arm's length. RISE is that army and always will be.

Like so many others, "Ben" didn't win this particular battle of addiction when he came home the first time. He served 2 more years back in prison. But his army, RISE and this community of ours - YOU - didn't stop having his back.

"Ben" was released to Omaha again in April of this year.

This is his letter:

"Ben" is succeeding. He's fighting every day to make his second chance at reentry and sobriety a victory. He's found a trade he loves and we're delighted to have given him the tools (literally and figuratively) that empower him to be successful.

Did a tool cart and welding mask win the battle for him? No, but it did take a small financial barrier away so he could keep working towards his victory and livelihood. It offered a way for "Daddy, Keep Going" to be true for his son. It offered a chance for "Ben" to break the generational cycle of incarceration for his son.

As I tucked "Ben"'s letter back into its envelope I caught a lump in my throat (much like the one I have now relaying this story to you). I saw the sign,"Daddy, Keep Going...Daddy, Keep Going" playing in my head like a movie.

Moments...letters like this...are a reminder that people can stumble and fall, but with support, can find the strength to get up and keep going.

This work is hard. We'll "keep going" just like "Ben" is.

It's the little things, my friends.
It's the little things.