Bon Secours Baltimore Foundation

William is grateful for the Returning Citizen’s Program

William went to prison at age 17 with a sentence of 30 years. He had to do a lot of self-reflection to figure out how to get through that time and decide what kind of man he was going to grow into. William created a few programs for gang and violence prevention behind the wall. After 17 years of incarceration, he found out about the program for returning citizens at Bon Secours Community Works, and enrolled.

William said, “Coming home is scary. You already have a title on you, and people already have a stereotype of you. I think that the returning citizens’ program is like the bridge that helps to get you through. A lot of guys come home, and everybody closes doors in their face, and then they fall back into their old ways because they feel as though there’s no other opportunities for them. I think this program creates a bridge that shows people that there is change, but you have to want to put the work in. What you put into it is what you get out of it.”

William was given the opportunity to speak at a couple of Bon Secours events and discovered that he is good at motivational speaking. That led to his job as a facilitator for the returning citizens’ program, and he has been doing it for a year now. William added, “Everything I do comes from an urgency to do better, because I have no room to go backward.” You can support this and other programs like it through the Give for Good Campaign.