Baltimore may still be losing population, but one group of people floods the city each year: Ex-offenders. About 8,600 of them.
Think about that. 8,600 people fresh from prison come to Baltimore City each year of the 15,000 released statewide. That?s more than 1 percent of the city?s population.
Many have drug and alcohol problems and little education ? which sets them up to fail upon release. A recent study showed about 50 percent of the Maryland prisoners released in 2001 returned to prison within three years.
But some never go back. In no small part it?s due to employers who reach out to ex-offenders and offer them jobs and a chance to put themselves ? instead of drugs and the street ? in charge of their lives.
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation honored some of those employers and some of those ex-offenders who have chosen to become productive members of society Thursday at its employer appreciation breakfast.
David Waller was one of those honored. Out of prison for seven years, the former Charles Village burglar now shepherds HIV positive ex-offenders and those who are at high risk for getting the disease into housing as a case worker for AIRS, AIDS Interfaith Residential Services Inc. Since prison, Waller, HIV positive, has married, and two of his children graduate from high school this weekend. Both plan to attend college. He bought his first house last year and has applied to attend University of Baltimore in the fall.
“I felt intimidated when I left [prison]. … I had never been invested in my work,” he said.
The structure of work helped him to see that “life is bigger than the block where I lived.”
Those employers who take a chance on people like Waller deserve honor. They not only save taxpayers thousands of dollars ? it costs $25,000 to incarcerate a prisoner each year ? but more importantly, help to rehabilitate a life and city neighborhoods person by person. Talk about a way to fight crime at the root.
Those given awards Thursday were Computer Donations Management, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, Craftmatic of Maryland Inc., Banquets and More and the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives.
They set an example for all the state?s employers and show that with willpower and proper training, ex-offenders can stay ex. Without them those 8,600 people don?t have a chance, and that hurts the chances of all of us.
