COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Saturday, the City of Columbia, in partnership with Goodwill and several other community organizations, offered people with past criminal convictions a second chance.
Columbia charities are partnering to offer job and expungement resources to people who may have recently gotten out of prison or have an older conviction that could hinder their search for a job or a place to live.
Jermaine Washington is now the proud owner of a pressure-washing business in Columbia, but his path to success has not been easy. When he was given a second chance to turn things around, he decided to share his stories with others to encourage them to take advantage of the same opportunities that helped change his life.
"I was incarcerated back in 2012. Did like five years, and the whole time I was there, you know, my father passed away," he said. "I had a grandmother who passed away. Just the hurt that I've seen in my family's faces. It didn't sit with me."
"You've got to have somebody that is behind you to show that they care," he added. "Some guys do 20 years, some guys do 25, and it's hard for them to get out and adapt to society. If they don't have anything to help them get back into society, the first thing they're going to do, they're going to commit a crime, and they will go back to prison."
The path back to a life of crime is something that people like Ta,iko Jones with Goodwill's Life Launch 2.0 program are trying to help prevent, and why Goodwill's Job Connection Center on Decker Boulevard hosted a Second Chance resource fair and panel.
"I work with those ages 18 to 24. So, these young individuals have done things in the past from when they were much younger," Jones said. "Unfortunately, it's now still a part of their life. So, having them in a program like this can help them get that record expunged so that they can move forward. It's life-changing. When they change their lives, they change their family's lives, then there's this change throughout the whole community."
Trevon Fordham with the Office of Violent Crime Prevention said the opportunity for formerly incarcerated people to find work is a win for everyone.
"The workforce development and expansion of it is key because when we talk about the root causes of violent crime, we understand that finances play a big part in that," Fordham said. "We understand that folks will need jobs. So having se worked here as well as having different community partners is always important because people need jobs."
The overarching goal of Second Chance Month is to help reduce recidivism. Columbia officials said they hope to have more events and provide more second chances in the future.