Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley held a recovery and employment fair in Dayton in 2024.

LIMA — According to the Prison Policy Initiative , Ohio has an incarceration rate of 621 per 100,000 people. Once these people have been released, it can be difficult to come back to daily life, but one coalition is helping these individuals find the resources they need to succeed.

Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley is the lead agency of the Auglaize, Allen and Hardin County Re-entry Coalition that was formed in 2023 with funding from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Cindy Carusone, Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley’s community outreach and engagement manager, mentioned that Goodwill shoppers also help fund the program.

“Everybody knows us as a Goodwill store. They really don’t understand what the store means, that for every revenue dollar our stores receive, 87 cents goes to support these programs, which is very vital to the community,” Carusone said over the phone.

Jennifer Bonifas, Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley’s chief mission officer and vice president, said at one time the coalition had 30 nonprofits participating. Some partners still participating include Lima Municipal Court, ODRC, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, West Ohio Community Action Partnership and multiple addiction treatment centers. The group also partners with multiple employers, including Lima Pallet Company, Range Kleen, NK Parts Industries, Inc., Rudolph Foods Company, Procter & Gamble and Ford.

Bonifas said the primary focus of the coalition is connecting formerly incarcerated individuals with employers — which also means helping with résumés and interviewing skills — but they can also assist with things like housing, transportation and getting IDs.

The group’s work starts at the local prison and jail before an inmate is released.

“We are in Allen Correctional Institute,” Bonifas said in a phone call. “They allow us to come in, our job developer goes in and she does job readiness classes with inmates who are pre-released. She’ll work on their résumés with them, she’ll start identifying career paths, if there’s certifications that are needed she’s trying to get a jump start on all those things, that way when they’re released they know exactly where to go and exactly who they can connect with, so that’s made placement for our returning citizens a much more fluid process.”

Bonifas said 131 people came through the program from the program’s start in 2023 to the end of 2024 with 102 having a confirmed history of incarceration. Forty-seven of the 102 were placed into employment, and almost half of them were placed into jobs paying $18 an hour or more.

Working with people after prison also doesn’t abruptly end; Bonifas said the coalition typically keeps up with participants for 90 days afterward, but some of the relationships developed between staff and participants have lasted for years.

One former inmate who has gotten help from the program is Daniel Pearl, 29, of Lima. He was incarcerated at the Allen Correctional Institution for 2 1/2 years for multiple charges, including drug possession, before his release in December. He found out about the program in prison before his release.

“They’ve been helping me, Goodwill has, with what kind of success I wanted to have in life and what changes,” Pearl said on the phone.

Pearl said he was worried about finding housing before he was released, and Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley members have come with him to look for apartments once he gets a steady income. He interviewed at The Met restaurant Tuesday for a line cook position.

“I looked for a job because I want to be successful, that’s what I want to do, I want to be living a good life instead of going back to my old ways,” he said.

Pearl said he was involved in Narcotics Anonymous in prison and enjoys helping people, so he hopes to get back into that. He also gives out the coalition’s information to people who could benefit from the resources they provide.

“That’s one thing I plan on doing in the near future is helping other recovering addicts out. That’s one of my main goals,” he said.

Rob Nelson, a co-owner of The Met, said Pearl’s interview went well. He said even if an applicant puts on their application that they have been arrested or have felonies, Nelson and his team will still interview them to see if they’re a good fit.

“We’ll still bring them in and interview them, and we’ve had a number of people on our payroll over the years that have been incarcerated,” he said in a phone call. “This person deserves to have a job. Obviously, if they’re out, they’ve served their time… We don’t want them to always have to wear the scarlet letter.

“I think everyone needs a chance or a second chance. Let us be judged on our best days and not on our worst,” he continued. “Sometimes people make a bad decision, and some of us may have made that same decision, so maybe not be as judgmental about people and where they’ve been and their past. We’d probably all have a better society for that.”