Curtis Spears always thought of President George W. Bush as a white guy in a suit. On Tuesday, Spears ? a 50-year-old black felon recently released from serving time on drug distribution charges ? saw someone he could relate to. That is, a man in a suit who loves enchiladas, gets headaches from planning his daughter?s wedding and battled his own addiction with alcohol.
“I have much more respect for him,” Spears said. “It really changed my whole outlook. He said, ?I?m not a big I, I am a little you.? ”
Spears and other participants in the Jericho Program, an employment center for released prison inmates, met Bush during an hour-long visit to the East Baltimore facility. The president?s visit coincided with the seventh anniversary of his creation of the federal Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to help nonprofits compete for billions of dollars in federal grants.
Jericho, run by Episcopal Community Services of Maryland, receives more than $500,000 each year in grants to help nonviolent male felons build their resumes, fill out applications and practice interviewing. The recidivism rate for Jericho clients is 22 percent, according to program director Bonnie Ariano, compared with a 52-percent rate citywide.
It was faith, Bush said, that helped him swear off alcohol more than 20 years ago.
“As you might remember, I drank too much at one time in my life,” said Bush, 61. “I understand that sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher power to solve an addiction problem.”
Several ex-offenders called Bush?s visit uplifting. Some posed for pictures with the president and asked personal questions ? Bush?s favorite food, and whether there?s a White House wedding in store for first daughter Jenna Bush.
Jaisin Hines, 32, asked Bush about the voting rights of convicted felons.
Hines said Bush, who greeted the group with “my brothers,” explained Maryland recently restored voting rights to ex-offenders who have completed their sentences, including probation and parole supervision.
“It?s a heavy burden being president,” said Hines, recently released from a yearlong sentence. “I truly think he cares about me, and not only as a black man, but an inmate.”
