News
Page 4
Street Roots • Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2017
Time
served
Portland restaurant
groups consider new
hires from Oregon
prison system
W IK IC O M M O N S
BY EMILY GREEN
executive assistant and relations manager.
“They were always on time; no problems.”
Pok Pok is partnering with local nonprofit A
hen Cala began serving its now-
Social Ignition to host the job fair, and
acclaimed Mexican cuisine in San
organizers are looking for other interested
Francisco two years ago, most diners
restaurant groups to join them.
didn’t know that more than half the restaurant’s
They’re encouraging restaurateurs in
50 employees had previously served time in
Portland’s food scene with two or more
prison.
“The truth is, it’s just smart business,” Cala’s establishments to attend the event, which is
still in the planning stages and slated for
General Manager Emma Rosenbush recently
January.
told a private audience at Portland’s
“What we are not looking for is McDonalds,
Laurelhurst Theater.
because the guys can walk in there and get a
Cala was in a pinch because the cost of living
job pretty easily,” said Sonja Skvarla, founder of
in the Bay Area had become too expensive for
A Social Ignition. “We’re looking for more
many service industry workers, she explained -
established, very ‘Portland’ restaurants.”
but jobseekers coming out of prison were
She expects inmates who are within 6
readily available.
months of release will make up the bulk of
It’s a scenario that’s becoming a reality in
attendees at the job fair. Restaurant owners
Portland too, as rents continue to outpace
and managers who participate will be expected
wages.
to present their business and be prepared to
Rosenbush had been invited to speak to
talk to inmates about how to get a job and be
Portland-area restaurant industry managers and
owners at a screening of “The Return” this past successful in the industry.
Men and women reentering society after
September.
incarceration face many challenges, but if
They had come to see the documentary
employers partner with a nonprofit that helps
about difficulties inmates face when they’re
former inmates through the process, it can
released from prison - and to learn more about
make all the difference, explained Rosenbush.
how to hire them.
The nonprofit reentry partner can help an
The screening sparked plans for a restaurant
employer navigate the challenges of working
industry night and job fair inside Columbia
with formerly incarcerated workers, and help
River Correctional Institution, a minimum-
them find the right fit for their business.
security state prison located in Northeast
Cala had to make a few changes to make its
Portland.
environment more suitable for its staff, such as
Leading the effort locally is Andy Ricker’s
eliminating the free alcoholic beverage
Pok Pok Restaurants, which co-sponsored the
employees typically enjoy at the end of each
movie screening and has already had success
shift at most restaurants. Because many people
with two former inmates it hired at its
coming out of prison are in recovery, it made
Brooklyn, N.Y., location.
sense for Cala to prohibit employee drinking on
“They were both successful, exemplary
site.
employees,” said Lindsay Druhot, Ricker’s
SENIOR STAFF REPORTER
W
But the reward of being able to provide
people with a second chance has outweighed
any sacrifice, Rosenbush said.
The film’s co-writer and co-director, Kelly
Duane de la Vega, told attendees that when she
showed the film inside America’s prisons, what
she heard repeatedly was that inmates needed
help finding jobs after their release.
This inspired her to take one of the film’s
mam characters,
Bilal Chatman, to
movie screenings
for business
a s®cl®tyr w e a r e n o t h e lp in g
owners and
a n y b o d y g a l» th e h a n is - e n s h ills
managers across
th a t th e y a e e d to b e in a a e w c a
the country, with
stops in New York re e r, T h e r e is a g a p b e tw e e n w h a t
City, Los Angeles, w e e ip e e t fr o m In m a te s r e e n t e r in g
s o c ie t y a n d w h a t w e p r e p a r e th e m
Seattle and
Philadelphia.
io r / ?
After the
~ SOfWA SKVARLA
D IR E C TO R , S O C IA L IGNITION
screening in
Portland, former-
inmate Chatman
told Street Roots
that when the film’s team visited inmates in
Oregon’s prisons, they echoed what inmates all
over the country were saying:
“They wanted more programs, they want
more job opportunities when they get out, and
they are concerned about rehabilitation and
reentry,” he said.
Oregon Sen. Michael Dembrow (D-Portland)
also spoke at the screening. He said that while
Oregon took positive steps forward this past
legislative session when it passed a number of
bills aimed at helping former inmates reenter
society, reentry still remains a “huge
See TIME SERVED, page 5