Program Helps Ex-Cons Adjust To Life

Every day, thousands of people are released from jail, and it's not an easy adjustment to go back to the streets.

Beyond the Conviction is a local group that is helping to ease the transition -- it's led by ex-cons who want to teach others how to adjust and thrive outside prison walls.

Monique Hernandez said the program turned her life around. She said she's struggled with drugs and alcohol for 25 years.

"I was constantly relapsing," Hernandez told KMBC's Jere Gish.

Hernandez has been convicted 30 times, and she said she'd always fall back into her old ways.

"Coming out of prison or jail, there was a big gap between the prison gates and getting to the point of looking for employment," Hernandez said.

Patrick Danley, who founded Beyond the Conviction in 2006, said he's a former drug dealer.

"The average ex-offender has limited history, limited education, lack of resources," Danley said. "Having a degree and having some credits for my masters, applying for jobs -- that stigma of felony convictions hindered me for so many positions."

"We just want them to realize there's hope, there's resources," said Dallas Lee, an instructor for Beyond the Conviction. "What we have to learn to do is roll with the punches until the path or lane is more open and gets smoother for us."

"Do you feel like you have to be twice as good as everybody else?" Gish asked ex-convict Tracy Cooper.

"Yes, because of my convictions. Yes," Cooper said.

Beyond the Conviction offers several services, including haircuts so job applicants can look good for interviews.

"I'm going to get a job as soon as I walk out of here -- that's how I'm feeling," ex-convict Larry Colbert said.

Lee said because it's ex-cons leading the way, people are more likely to listen.

"They can look at them now and say, 'Man, if you can do it, I can do it.' And that's the biggest thing," Lee said.

"That gives you credibility, doesn't it?" Gish asked.

"Major credibility," Lee said.

Hernandez completed the program and is now going to college.

"I feel like I've always, that the woman I am today has always been there, but I was never able to surface," Hernandez said. "This was the step that sent me in the right direction."

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