Rethinking reentry homes gives former inmates a new lease on life
OAKLAND -- A Bay Area nonprofit is providing a new form of reentry housing for recently released inmates designed to make the transition from prison to life outside a little less daunting.
When Bernard King first arrived at a halfway house in East Oakland after living in a six-by-ten cell for 15 years, he expected it would be an upgrade.
But even in his wildest dreams, he couldn't have imagined what awaited him on the outside.
"A bedroom with a bathroom? All mine? I was amazed," he said.
These days King (not his real name) has a queen-size bed, a big-screen TV and his own door that locks from the inside.
"I can keep it clean. I can live like I want to live," he explained.
King scored a coveted spot through a non-profit called the Ahimsa Collective.
"The point is to give agency back, that means you get to make the decisions, you get to work out your problems. We will be here for you, side by side to help in any way we can," said founder and co-executive director Richard Cruz.
Cruz knows first-hand how hard it is to make a fresh start. After spending 30 years behind bars, in 2018 he was assigned to reentry home in Hayward.
It was a strict, no-nonsense facility with a long list of rules and conditions: no family allowed, curfew at 9 p.m. sharp, and a full schedule of mandatory classes whether he needed them or not.
He says it felt less like a home and more like a jail cell in disguise.
"In this house, there was five bedrooms, 32 people and one bathroom. And everybody was trying to get up first so they could use the bathroom and get out," he recalled.
So, in 2020 he came up with an idea: a new kind of reentry home with wraparound services that didn't monitor people's every move.
Residents have their own rooms, a monthly allowance of $200 and a Clipper card for transportation. There are no curfews and no limits on how long they can stay.
"We did not want it to feel like a traditional reentry homes that are now out there with all the same furniture, all bunk beds and everything else. We wanted it to be different," Cruz said.
So far, it seems to be working. Of the collective's six graduates, all have found jobs and permanent housing.
"I know we've helped them breakdown some barriers and help them through a time that's rough," Cruz said.
As for King, he's got a full-time job and is hoping to move out on his own soon. But until then, he said there's no other place he'd rather be.
"This is home, it feels like home," he said.
More information about the Ahimsa Collective is available at their website.