New Burke Reentry Council helps former inmates rebuild their lives

When Randall Williams left incarceration, all he had was the white uniform they released him in. If it hadn’t been for a group of men at a local church, Williams said he would have ended up back behind bars.

Now, he works with Operation Gateway (OG), handing out flyers to let locals know that the nonprofit is establishing a reentry council in Burke County and they’re hosting a public information session on May 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Foothills Higher Education Center.

OG BACKGROUND

OG was established in 2019 in Asheville and focuses on supporting formerly incarcerated individuals with their reentry into society.

Williams, a peer support specialist with OG, said, “I used all the challenges and the tests that I’ve endured in my life, that God done brought me through to try to help other people from my lessons learned.”

OG Recovery Ecosystems Coordinator Kelly Bowling explained that the organization structures inmate plans on a 180-day layout: 90 days intensive work on a plan before release, and 90 days of post-release check-ins and assistance.

“The ideal scenario for support is when we can talk to them while they’re still incarcerated and come up with a home plan for when they leave,” Bowling said. “We want to be proactive. We do not want to wait for the case managers or the people in prison to somehow find their way to us.”

Bowling explained that the organization functions on five “social determinants of health”:

• Medical care, such as automatic enrollment in Medicaid and support.
• Vital records, assisting with obtaining identification forms such as licenses and social security cards before release.
• Housing solutions, because many leaving incarceration are labeled as “homeless.”
• Employment, securing jobs for formerly convicted individuals amid stigma.
• Social and community context, directing individuals to recovery meetings, church groups, and the like.

While the Burke County reentry council will comprise local stakeholders such as police, probation officers, and faith-based members, the team at OG supplies reentry navigators, health workers, advocates, and peer support specialists.

Bowling said the goal is to assist the local reentry council in securing a foothold, eventually drawing funding from the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections (NCDAC). More than 20 local reentry councils across the state are tied to the NCDAC, supporting over 50 counties.

RANDALL WILLIAMS

“(What) peer supports looks like, for me, is walking with somebody along the path to find a better version of themselves,” Williams said. “Not me helping them. If I’m helping them, it means I’m leading them or guiding them, steering them in a certain direction, and I don’t do that.”

Williams explained that he’s been in jail for a variety of crimes, so he knows what it’s like to come from not being able to open your own door or turn out your own lights to being dropped right back into society.

“I came back, man, and it’s still hard for me to adjust,” Williams said. “When I first came back, it was hard for me to adjust to being outside, on the other side of the wall, and being able to be connected with people.”

The instability of coming home, uncertain of how his family would look at him, stood out as one of the biggest obstacles of reentry for Williams.

“When I came out, I intentionally wanted to not go back to where I came from and being who I was, the person I was then,” he said. “That took leaving for a while, not talking to a lot of the people that I had, that I considered family. … If it wasn’t a positive connection, then I stayed away from it as much as possible.”

As the council forms and develops roots in Burke County, Williams plans to continue spreading the word and helping others reenter the community.

“Everybody says that there’s always hope,” Williams said. “I’ma say that too, but knowing the fact that you’re made for more — God made us for more than settling for mediocrity and the small things.”

“It’s our choices that have us going through it,” he continued. “We’ve got somebody that’s walking with us. Not physically, but if you can just tap into that, then you know you ain’t alone. You’re never alone.”