Since June, Ronald Gorham has reunited with his mother, built comradery with like-minded people and taken the steps to consistent, gainful employment. He has done so while attending virtual workshops facilitated by the Hope Foundation Re-entry Network.
Gorham found out about the Hope Foundation Re-entry Network not long after completing his second prison stint. He said that the program has helped him fulfill a promise he made to himself about never again embracing the lifestyle that got him tangled up in the court system.
With the Hope Foundation Re-entry Network’s recent move to a returning citizens resource center in Congress Heights, Gorham said there’s an even greater likelihood that he’ll be able to lead a self-sufficient life, and eventually become a Hope Foundation Re-entry Network program facilitator.
“I look forward to that family environment. It’s real love [and] they bring out a lot of perspectives,” Gorham said.
“I got introduced to [making] a personal resume about my social gathering outside of work and the activities that I do so I can see where I want to be,” he continued. “ I’m encouraged to write a book and be self-aware. Every time I’m with people in these group sessions, I am learning about myself.”
The Hope Foundation Re-entry Network counts among several programs that are available at the Resources to Empower and Develop You Center, more commonly known as the READY Center.
The READY Center recently relocated to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Southeast’s Congress Heights. The move culminated meetings with the D.C. Department of General Services about the available buildings and community engagement sessions with Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C that book place for more than a year.
When the READY Center first opened in 2019, it operated out of a trailer behind the D.C. Department of Corrections (DOC). During the pandemic, elements of the READY Center came to a standstill. It eventually relocated to the Reeves Center in Northwest in the summer of 2022.
Upon the READY Center’s Congress Heights reopening in late September, dozens of returning citizens who completed stints at DOC and the Federal Bureau of Prisons have walked through a bright red door and immersed themselves in the one-stop shop. There, they can receive D.C. government-issued ID cards and other documentation, along with resources to get them reacclimated to life outside of a correctional facility.
Returning citizens are eligible to receive services at the READY Center for six months after their release. In the months leading up to that special day, representatives of the center reach out to returning citizens to determine the types of resources.
They then use that information to connect them with partner agencies — including D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, D.C. Department of Employment Services, D.C. Department of Human Services, the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs, D.C. Department of Behavioral Health, Voices for a Second Chance, Manpower DC, and House of Ruth.
The READY Center is open five days a week, and returning citizens are able to schedule an appointment or walk in from the street. In December, the READY Center will host a family reunification event that will allow returning citizens to meet estranged family members in a safe space. This event counts among 10 of its kind taking place at the READY Center and DOC this year.
Jaqueline Williams, DOC deputy director of education, reentry programs and case management, said that the READY Center aims to tackle the issues of housing, employment and strained family relationships that make it difficult for returning citizens to make a smooth transition.
“We have so many services in the District that people have a hard time navigating,” Williams said.
“Mayor Bowser wanted a space where people could be under one umbrella,” Williams added. “The overall vision is to ensure that returning citizens can reenter society. It’s important to have spaces that meet their needs, and give them life skills and resources for family reunification.”
On Oct. 20, the READY Center celebrated its grand reopening with a ceremony that attracted dozens of people in the reentry arena. Guests included Williams, Lindsey Appiah, deputy mayor for public safety and justice, and Erica Green, vice president of ANC 8C and commissioner of single-member district 8C04.
In August, Green facilitated an ANC meeting at William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Neighborhood Library in Southwest where Williams and other DOC representatives discussed the READY Center with community members.
Green told The Informer that residents had enthusiasm for a community center that, for many people, represented a significant improvement in how returning citizens could ease back into the real world. She recounted the meeting lasting much longer than an hour with library staff at times asking them to end the meeting.
“Several people were inspired,” Green said as she explored the potential for other groups receiving similar support. “It was important to come together for robust change. The D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles being here is a game changer. People stop me all the time asking how I can help them get their identification. If we can do this for returning citizens, then we can do this for our single moms.”
Cherise Stone said she can attest to the READY Center’s impact on her life.
In 2019, Stone entered the READY Center upon the completion of her prison stint. As she recalled to The Informer, READY Center personnel tended to her needs, some of which she hadn’t considered. She said those experiences inspired her to help others acquire important resources.
Stone has done so over the last few years, first in then-Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s office, and now in the READY Center as an outreach specialist. These days, she communicates with returning citizens in the months leading to their release, attends community events, and runs daily operations at the READY Center — all with a big smile on her face.
For Stone, it’s all about paying it forward and fulfilling her potential.
“When I came home, I was starting from scratch not knowing where I was going to live or how I was going to provide for my girls,” she told The Informer. “I was inspired by the READY Center and saw employees who were returning citizens. I thought that if they could do it, I could do it. We break the barriers to fast-track [responses to people’s] needs. I was grateful for the opportunity to connect returning citizens [to resources] like it had been done for me.”