Rebuilding Lives. Strengthening Communities.

Sam J. is a 41-
Real Life
year-old African-American man.
Similar to most of his closest
friends and relatives, Sam used
heroin, “hustling and living the
street life for many years,” he
explains. “It was a social thing at
first. I didn’t understand how it
would get out of control.” After
over ten years of habitual drug
use, his health began to deteriorate
and he became increasingly
unable to meet society’s daily
demands. “I was using the
streets as a method to generate
revenue. I thought the working
man was a sucker. I could live
the fast life with all the action—
it was captivating.”
At 23 years old, Sam was arrested
and convicted for possession
of illegal substances. He was
sentenced to six years at Logan
Correctional Center. After
serving two-and-a-half years of
his sentence, Sam was released
from prison. Although his health
had improved during his incarceration,
his craving for heroin
persisted. When he returned
home, he soon found that his
family and friends were still
abusing illegal substances.
“I didn’t change my method of
survival,” he says. And so, shortly
thereafter, Sam relapsed.
He spent seven more years
struggling with his heroin addiction.
During this period, he
volunteered at a neighborhood
restaurant. Because he had
taken culinary classes in prison,
he was hired as a cook. Sam
held this position for over a
year, explaining “my boss was
very supportive,” but because
he was still using drugs, he
couldn’t keep steady employment
and changed jobs frequently.
A few years later, according to
Sam, “the bottom fell out. The
ugly side of my addiction took
over. I thought I was in control,
but really the drugs were in
control.” He was arrested and
convicted of possession again.
However, this time, things were
different for Sam. “After 23
years, I was ready to try
something new,” Sam says,
remembering the sudden determination
he felt after his second
Sam J.
conviction. “I said to myself,‘this
revolving door is over.’ I’m
going to do what I need to do to
become a productive member
of society and to enjoy life like
other people do.” Sam entered
drug therapy while at Vandalia
Correctional Center and, as he
describes,“spent the majority of
my prison term in a treatment
atmosphere.” By the time he
was released, he was equipped
with strategies for facing his
addiction on the outside. “They
taught me about resources to
use in mainstream society. I
learned about my addiction as a
disease.”
The first and most critical
strategy, Sam realizes, was to
find and connect to other drug
addicts who were in recovery. “I
explained to my wife, ‘I’m not
going to be a burden to you.’”
Sam reached out to other
family members, many of whom
were former addicts now in
recovery. “Once I saw my
family members recovering, I
knew it was possible for me.
Some of my friends that I grew
up with, they were also in recovery.
I had an insight that there
are other people dealing with
these issues who found a way
out.” His wife understood his
need to become healthy and
emotionally stable before
looking for a job. Although it
was financially difficult to provide
for the family during this
period, his wife backed his
decision. “I was exposed to so
much understanding and support.
Drugs were a plague on
our family. But when my
mother got clean, it had a trickle
down effect.”
Today, Sam has been
drug- and crime-free
for six years. “I found
freedom,” he describes. He has
been employed as a cook at an
Italian restaurant for the last
four years and he volunteers
one day a week at a communitybased
employment center, connecting
other former prisoners
with his own extensive support
network.
“Once I saw
my family
members
recovering, I
knew it was
possible for
me.”
MAYORAL POLICY CAUCUS ON PRISONER REENTRY
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