In North Carolina, a formerly incarcerated non-profit leader purchased the former Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro, NC, and intends to convert the facility into a re-entry housing and a workforce development service where formerly incarcerated people can attain job skills or industry certifications.
Kerwin Pittman, the founder and executive director of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, Inc. (RREPS) and Policy and Program director at Emancipate NC, was sent to prison at just 18 years old and served 11 years and six months for conspiracy to commit murder. He has also launched mobile reentry centers and a recidivism reduction hotline to help fill gaps he sees in support for people who are returning to communities they once left behind.
Pittman plans transform the now-closed facility into a re-entry and workforce development campus, designed to support hundreds of formerly incarcerated men as they navigate the same challenges he once faced rebuilding his life in the community. Pittman envisions residents training to become electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, construction workers or other trades that are in high demand.
Pittman paid $275,000 for the abandoned prison, according to the state Department of Corrections. He told NC Newsline that it will take as much as $2 million to refurbish the prison. He said he plans to rely on private donations and to pursue federal, state and local grants. He estimates it will take up to two years to get the former prison ready for as many as 300 residents who would live on the campus until they complete a six-month program. Another class of up to 300 would replace the previous residents each six months, he said.
“North Carolina is leading the way in recidivist reduction and reentry and we’re the first organization to do this in the country,” Pittman said. “Transitioning after a significant amount of time incarcerated is not one of the things that you easily overcome. I had to get used to and learn how to drive again. I had to get used to using a debit card again. I just had to get used to the basic functions of society.”
You can read more about the project in “He once lived in prison. Now he’s turning one into a place for second chances” at the North Carolina Health News website. North Carolina Health News is an independent, not-for-profit, statewide news organization dedicated to covering health care in North Carolina employing the highest journalistic standards of fairness, accuracy and extensive research.
