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WHEELING -- They were convicted of crimes for which they didn't receive life sentences. After leaving prison, they then have to find a way to live in society.
The Appalachian Institute at Wheeling Jesuit University Thursday night sponsored "Just Work," a panel discussion addressing the obstacles and opportunities experienced by those seeking employment after incarceration or drug rehabilitation.
Participating were West Virginia Commissioner of Corrections and Rehabilitation Betsy Jividen; Laura Albertini-Weigel, director of the WIND program at the YWCA; Lisa Allen, CEO of the Ziegenfelder Company; and Jill Upson, director of the West Virginia Herbert Henderson Office of Minority Affairs.
A lot of the women who come to the YWCA after leaving the correctional system have nothing -- maybe not even enough clothes on their back, according to Albertini-Weigel.
She said recently she received a call from a just released inmate who only had a tank top, shorts and flip flops to wear, and it was 33 degrees outside. They didn't even fit properly as she had been in jail for six months.
"(Correction officials) told her she could walk to Wheeling from the Northern Regional Jail," Albertini-Weigel said.
The situation happens "a lot," she said. Those at the YWCA "are blessed" because there is a women's boutique there, and women who need them can find clothes and shoes.
The YWCA also can help them with basic needs such as food and hygiene products.
"They don't have the idea of where their next meal is going to come from, and some of them don't make it," Albertini-Weigel said.
She acknowledged some are not "genuine" in their efforts to want to improve their lives.
"We are all safer when we are doing something to prepare people who are coming out of prison and our jails to become productive members of the community," Jividen said. "The challenges and obstacles faced are numerous."
Having a conviction on their record is problem enough, she said. But the issue is compounded when the person also has no identification, and there are outstanding fines on their drivers license they can't financially afford to address.
"How do you get to a job when you don't have a way to get there?" Jividen asked. Often they also have family issues, and are reuniting with their children.
She said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is trying to help those released from prison by trying to educate the community and remove the stigma surrounding former inmates.
"We are all one community, and we have to live together," she said. "We would be silly to think everyone that is coming home wants to be a productive citizen, but there are many more who want to....
"The people who are behind bars in most respects are no different than the people on the outside. We need to relate as people, and understand."
The Ziegenfelder Company in Wheeling makes a concentrated effort to hire those coming out of prison who can't find jobs elsewhere.
Allen said the Ziegenfelder Company employs about 160 people, and about 60 percent of their workforce has a criminal record.
"Lets recognize there are millions of people incarcerated who have made really bad choices," she said. "But does that make them really bad people? I think not."
She said she asks these potential employees what they did before prison, and what kind of skill sets they had.
"What kind of opportunities can they bring to our company?" Allen asked. "We began to see the competitive advantage in this population that has talent, and nobody wants them."
Among those present was Theo Blackston, who was released from jail on Tuesday after spending 11 years in prison on a murder charge.
He said he applied for food stamps on Wednesday, and was thankful to the corrections system for teaching that his patience would be needed when trying to establish a life on the outside.
Blackston said he graduated from Wheeling Jesuit University in 1998 with a degree in teaching, and acknowledged it is unlikely he will be able to get a license as a youth counselor.
"We love you," he told Jividen. "We see what you are trying to do for us."