Beyond the Gate: How Chris is Changing the Conversation on Reentry

The difference between a successful reentry after incarceration and a failed one often lies in the smallest of details: no money for the bus; can’t get work boots; lost birth certificate. These problems are big obstacles for returning citizens that often have no support system, and can be a catalyst for defeat.

Chris left prison in 2024 with $40 in the pocket of his state-issued khaki pants, not knowing how he would survive his first week back in his hometown of Queens, New York.

“I was supposed to go to reentry classes for three weeks before my release so I could find help, but that never happened,” says Chris. “Instead, with a week left on my sentence, the staff had me sign paperwork stating that I had attended the classes and was told about reentry resources. It was a total lie.”

Raised by his Great-Uncle and Aunt in rural Georgia, Chris’s first job when he was 12 was picking pecans. At 14, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd and went to juvenile detention for stealing cars. After Chris started using drugs and alcohol, his relatives sent him to New York to live with his grandma, a successful businesswoman with a thriving heating oil company.

Yet, the move didn’t change things, and in 2009, Chris went to jail for the first time. He would live there for the next 15 years.

But the 39-year-old explains that he used his time inside to better himself. “I earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from NYACK and took any programs and classes I could,” Chris says. “I stayed clean and sober, and when it got close to the end of my sentence, I made a reentry plan despite my institution’s indifference.”

Chris wrote letters to transition houses and even took the initiative to get his social security card and birth certificate; however, despite being proactive and planning for his return home, that wasn’t enough.

At 39, Chris became one of the 650,000 Americans to leave state and federal prison each year, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Additionally, every year between 10,000 and 12,000 New Yorkers are released from correctional institutions, many of whom are food and housing insecure.

“One way that lawmakers and prisons can help with the reentry debacle is to provide opportunities to learn a trade,” says Chris. “The chance of succeeding gets better, but it still doesn’t solve the problem of having no basic necessities when you walk out the gate.”

A widely cited report by the RAND Institute cites studies showing that getting an education inside prison—whether a high school diploma or a trade school—can lower the recidivism rate (number of rearrests) by up to 43%.

Yet many incarcerated men and women never get this chance, and many more leave government facilities without any money, housing, employment, clothes, or food, leaving them destined to fail.

“The entire purpose of incarceration is to serve time and then upon completion to be allowed to return to society for good,” Chris says. “Therefore the entire objective inside should be to educate the person on how to get out and stay out without harming their community.”

Although Chris had a home to return to in Queens with his grandma and wife, he struggled to find work. “I was putting in ten applications a day with no callbacks,” says Chris. “Luckily I learned about the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) on Broadway from a friend that worked there, and I was able to start working as a janitor on a transitional work crew right away.”

Chris worked four days a week in the Office of Vital Statistics and spent the fifth day with a job coach. He was looking for a permanent, quality job. He created a LinkedIn page and submitted applications. Three weeks after starting at CEO in New York City, Chris was offered a position as a case manager at an undomiciled shelter in New York.

Chris has moved mountains in his first year home, but he isn’t just ambitious. After being selected to join CEO’s Advocacy Leadership Committee (ALC) last month, he now attends bi-weekly meetings with other members to find solutions to the problems of reentry and how to present them to decision-makers.

“The advocacy work I do is challenging at times because it seems like the stigma of incarceration will not fade easily,” Chris says. He adds that new laws could help returning citizens prosper in their communities.

Chris and other ALC members have met with NY Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs, the sponsor of a Reentry Assistance Bill, to try to get “gate money” issued as a regular resource for those reentering society.

“Something as simple as giving people a little bit of money when they leave prison is a preventative measure and a win-win for everyone,” says Chris. “Legislators have the power to put money into reentry programs. The retention checks that CEO gives me for keeping my job help tremendously. Gate money could do the same for someone else.”

In fact, it could be the difference between success and failure.

Chris regularly recommends formerly incarcerated people to CEO, knowing that the staff actually cares about their success and well-being.

“With CEO you get an organization who is invested in making you the best version of yourself. They will believe in you when others may not, and more importantly, they will actually prove it to you,” Chris says. “The job coaches saw that I had leadership qualities so they enrolled me into the ALC program. Now I'm advocating for their mission, and helping others just like me.”

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