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Education* Dialogue * Independence
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Out and down
After serving time, many form er inmates fin d
that the reat trial begins upon release
BY SEAN MEAGHER,
RORY PATTISON, SUSAN MILER
AND REBECCA BUHL
j j C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R S
prior to entering prison. If not for his friends
at Sisters of the Road and an ex-con
acquaintance who showed him the ropes of
Portland’s social services, Gollyhorn might
easily have slipped back into a violent
lifestyle. ’
_
att Gollyhorn remembers it well:
sitting uncomfortably on a bench
and waiting for the bus — a ride that
he had anticipated for almost eight years. The
Living For Destiny
sun reflects off his, shiny head, and he stares
blankly in front of him. A half empty box of The bustling noise of the busy café crowd
knickknacks sags beside the folds of his
; carries on around Destiny, but-the 3-month-
undersized sweat suit, and he kicks at gravel
qld wrapped in a blanket remains oblivious to
with shoes that are two sizes too big. “What
it, comfortably sleeping in her stroller. The
am I gonna do now?” He asks aloud, fingering clattering sounds emanating from the counter
the $220 check in his pocket.
only 20 feet away do nothing to disturb her,
It was all he had to his name after seven
nor does, the emotionally charged tale of her
and a half years in prison.
>
mother,-Alicia McGinnis, 25, who sits by her.
According to Jeff Duncan, a research
Destiny has no idea what her mother has
analyst for The Department of Corrections,
gone through the previous 7 years, a time
52 percent of released offenders in Oregon
during which McGinnis was incarcerated for
had no home to go to in 2008. In 2009 alone,
3 1/2 years in Washington for robbery, and
says Duncan, 4,461 inmates are scheduled for then again for 13 months in Oregon’s Coffee
release. For these individuals, the transition
Creek Corrections Facility in Wilsonville for
from incarceration into society is difficult,
first-degree burglary.
especially for those without family support.
Destiny has been well fed and has a roof
over her head, something McGinnis is able to
"I had a premonition" j
; provide through Section 8 housing and the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
On a spring night in 1999, while he and his income she receives. These are better days
older brother waited outside a Portland
for McGinnis, much different than the many
McDonald’s, Gollyhorn, then 18, had a
years she spent homeless on and off
premonition: he knew that if they went
throughout her life.,According to McGinnis,
through with their plan they would get
■
i
■ ■ O a W g h f a " " » ' » 1 l
A fellow inmate took M att Gollyhorn
(above) aside when he was first
incarcerated and talked to him about
figuring out his life. " If it hadn't been
for the one and a half minutes he
took out of his tim e /' says Gollyhorn,
" I m ight not have changed." Who he
was back then, he says, and who he is
now are completely different people.
were sPent sleeping
- Jnst^gd^of trusting his instincts, they went
truck, her parents, brother and family dog all
ahead and attempted to rob the McDonald's.
crammed in beside her.
They also got caught. Gollyhorn was charged
On another spring night in 1999, McGinnis
under Oregon’s Measure 11 with three
awoke in a friend’s car to discover that two of
counta of armed robbery, criminal conspiracy
her buddies had followed a man from a gas
and second-degree kidnapping.
station and had robbed him. According to
Raised in “Felony Flats,” the SE 82nd and
McGinnis, because she had woken up at the
Duke area, he recalled growing up around
time, it was determined by the police that ■
white supremacy and'biker bars, and knowing
she was aware of what was transpiring. She
only one black family in the area. He was
was charged as an accessory to robbery and
surrounded by addiction, as well, with both of
given 3 1/2 years.
his parents hooked on narcotics. After being
“I had just lost custody of my son a Couple
picked on as a young child, Gollyhorn started
days before this,” says4 McGinnis, recalling a
fighting back. He continued fighting and,
situation that she blames in part on her
consequently, was kicked out of five Portland
mother, whom she described as a drug addict
highschools. s
.
who regularly caused problems for her and
A fellow inmate took him aside when he '
her son. McGinnis remembers her mental
was first incarcerated and talked to him about
state after losing custody of her first child: “I
figuring out his life. “If it hadn’t been for the •
just didn’t care about anything anymore.”
one; and a half minutes he took out of his ~
Etill, she managed to get her GED while in
tirtie,” says Gollyhorn, “I might not have
prison. Pier second incarceration came later
changed.”. Who he was back then, he says,
when she and two other friends entered an j
and who he is now are completely different •
abandoned building and stole $35 worth of
people.
tools. She was given a 13-month sentence
He lost the need to fight, as well as the
based on being a repeat offender.
hatred that he says took sdmuch energy out
of him.
'
1 ' r *
"You're out of luck"
Gollyhorn was also able to use his time as
best he could. He spent a fair amount of his
Art Rios, a member of the Civic Action
sentence on a wildland firework crew, where
Group at Sister^ Of The Road Cafe, discussed
he relearned how to trust, how to appreciate
his experiences in and out of prison. A native
a full day’s work, and how to interact with the of Sacramento, Calif., his struggles to return
outside world.
I to society after serving more than 4 years at
Nonetheless, re-entering society, he says,
San Quenton Penitentiary for stabbing a man
Was like stepping into a foreign country.
“I’d never paid a bill in my life,” he says.
Nor had he used a cell phone or the Internet
See OUT AND DOWN, page 9
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C oming
in
In 2007, Oregon
had a rate59
percent higher than
the national average
number of parolees
per 100,000 people.
In a city-wide study
found that one year
after their release,
60 percent of
former inmates
were not employed
in a legitimate job.
tn'the same study it
was found that 65
percent of
employers in tnajor
U5. cities said they
would not
knowingly hire an
ex-offender.
Landlords have the
legal right to deny a
rental applicant who
has committed any
crime against a .
person or property.
This includes more
than 87 percent of
the current inmate
population,
according to the
Oregon Department
of Correction.
A ugust ...
M ^ days
DEMOCRACY
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