Looking for a second chance

CELINA - Finding a job after getting out of jail is difficult, but more employers are willing to give recently released inmates a chance.

"Trying to get an employer who will take them on is hard," Mercer County Chief Probation Officer Mike Huber said. "More employers recently have been more receptive to them and open their doors. They look at how long ago the crime was committed and what type it was."

When filling out an application, Huber said he encourages the recently released inmates to be honest.

"If you lie, you're making it harder on yourself," Huber stressed. "We tell them to explain how and why you got your felony."

Sometime they lack the skills and education necessary to get a specific job, he said.

"We encourage them to get a high school diploma if they don't have one and go to training to make themselves more employable. Sometimes that will overshadow any felony and conviction," he added.

Thanks to Mercer County's low unemployment rate, Huber said ex-convicts have a better chance, and if they make an effort, they will be able to find a job.

Adjusting to living a normal life and going to work after spending months in jail can be difficult, however, Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey said.

"In jail, we're managing their life for them. When they get out, they don't know how to manage their own life," he said.

Some are even afraid of leaving the jail, he added.

"I always thought everybody in jail wanted to get out. But they don't know where they're going to go when they get out," Grey said. "They don't know where they're going to eat."

About 85 percent of inmates at the jail have a drug addiction, chief corrections officer Jodie Lange estimated.

They are more likely to start abusing drugs again after their release because they go back to the same places and friends, Grey said.

While locked up, inmates can participate in several programs to help them recover from drug abuse.

Holly Tonkin, 25, of Celina has a drug addiction and has been back in jail for more than five months after relapsing. After being released from jail for drug possession and contempt of court about three years ago, she said she was able to get a job at Cooper Farms and got a chance to turn her life around.

Going to mandatory probation meetings and managing a job was difficult, she recalled, but she was able to balance her schedule and make the most of her life due to a strong support system from her her loving, sober family.

Tonkin was proud of herself for being sober for three years. Over time, though, she remembered becoming complacent with her life. She stopped going to recovery meetings because she was too tired from working long hours. She eventually relapsed. This led her back to jail in June, she said.

Fearing another relapse, Tonkin said she has signed up for Alcoholics Anonymous and A Better Life - Brianna's Hope. Many inmates take these courses and so far, they have helped, she said.

Talking during AA meetings with others who battle addiction about their daily struggles helps, she said.

"The fellowship unites us and helps and uplifts one another using our own experiences to help out others," she noted.

Briana's Hope team members visit inmates every week, said Pastor Diane Mendelson, Celina chapter director.

These visitors are often recovering addicts who can form relationships over that bond. Talking about their addiction can be difficult, but it helps them heal and forgive themselves. Tonkin said the visitors don't judge and even help them after inmates are released from jail.

Mendelson said Briana's Hope organizers can help ex-convicts get a job and provide transportation to their job and meetings.

When she gets out of jail, Tonkin said she is going to use these and similar services to help her find a job and continue going to meetings to help turn her life around - hopefully the final time.

"I am hoping to learn from this and go farther than three years next time," she said. "This time I won't get complacent."