WRIGHTSVILLE - In the past 16 years, David Hood, 32, has been sent to prison seven times for drug and firearm convictions.
He just couldn’t handle life on the outside. The longest he ever made it was maybe three months. More often, it was only two.
In June, he walked out the front gate of a prison unit yet again. He returned Friday -not as an inmate but as a success story clad in dress clothes.
One of 21 men who made it through the Pathway to Freedom program while incarcerated, Hood went back to attend and speak at a graduation ceremony at the J. Aaron Hawkins Sr. Center in Wrightsville.
He’s one month away from completing a year of parole. The difference this time, he said, is that when he left prison last summer, he knew he could count on a support system outside the walls.
This time, Hood had a mentor - Pathway volunteer Gary Drawbaugh - who helped Hood navigate his re-entry into society. This time, Hood had a job. His earnings were legal and rightfully his. When he got laid off, he found another job, refusing to return to the streets. He currently works50 hours a week at Virco Inc., assembling school desks and chairs.
He also works out every day, Hood told Pathway inmates who attended the graduation. He gestured toward his chest and arms, prompting laughter and cheers from the crowd.
Most importantly, he is rebuilding a relationship with his 14-year-old daughter, who had lost faith in her father’s ability to stay out of trouble.
“There were so many broken promises,” he explained. “I kept going back to prison.”
The pair now either talk or text daily.
Both Hood and his mother, Ann Kennedy, credit the Pathway program for his success.
“He just couldn’t find himself,” Kennedy said. “Every time he would get out of prison, it didn’t take long before he was back in prison.”
Hood said it was easier to go back to what he knew: drugs and crime.
Pathway to Freedom is a nonprofit organization housed at the Wrightsville prison complex. According to its mission statement, Pathway is a “Christ-centered holistic service program” that teaches men how to be responsible members of their communities once released.
Those accepted into the program are housed at the Wrightsville complex for 18-24 months. After an offender is released on parole, he is assigned a mentor - someone who will help him tap into Pathway’s network of free-world resources. Volunteers, churches and other nonprofits assist with job training, transportation and locating appropriate housing.
Inmates who successfully re-enter society and stick with the program are permitted to graduate.
Pathway to Freedom, founded by Executive Director Scott McLean in 2011, is an example of how prison and parole officials are turning increasingly to faith-based organizations to reduce recidivism rates.
Of those incarcerated, 95 percent will be released someday. And up to 60 percent of those who leave prison will return.
Many churches have the time and money to donate, and both prison and parole officials say they are more than happy to rely on these volunteers and programs.
“This proves there can be a successful church and state partnership,” Arkansas Department of Community Correction Director Sheila Sharp said of the state’s contract with Pathway. “We have such a vision for this state and the things that we can do here.”
Mentor Scott Christensen, who attended the ceremony with graduate Leslie Blackburn, explained it this way: “Prison is for punishment. Pathway is rehabilitation. Men who are punished come out with no change in direction or attitude. With this program, they come out new and forgiven. They want to be better fathers, better husbands, better sons.”
The outside mentoring is a partnership between parolee and mentor, Christensen said. Many parolees can’t return to their families because of relatives who remain on drugs or are involved in crime. And usually, old friends are off-limits, too.
“They need someone to go to where they will be lifted up,” added Blackburn’s other mentor, Kyle Chapman.
Brandon Waggoner, released four months ago, collects mentors. He currently has four. All of them attended his graduation.
“I’m kind of clingy,” he joked.
Waggoner learned how to make methamphetamine when he was 14. He’s been checked into 10 drug-rehabilitation centers, done time in 13 jails and served three prison stints. He’s only 31.
“Pathway to Freedom is what changed me,” he said. “It is the most confrontational, invasive and destructive program that I’ve ever been in. But the things that it destroys are the addictions, the perversions and sinful behaviors that live in the deep, dark recesses of your mind. It’s a spiritual boot camp.”
The third time he landed in prison, Waggoner put in an application not only to Pathway but also to every other program as well. His goal wasn’t to improve himself. He just wanted to get out of prison, and programs will help an inmate do that.
When Pathway accepted him, Waggoner remained noncommittal.
“I thought, ‘I’m going to try this Christ thing one time,’” he recalled.
It worked, he said. While still incarcerated, he had to complete what’s called an excel project. So Waggoner worked on a plan and model for his own business.
Cardinal Building Group, which installs pole barns and garages, is now up and running. Waggoner also works at Fuller and Son Hardware and Lumber. And he designs and maintains websites.
He’s also cultivating his artistic talent. His submission to the Youth Home’s annual Eggshibition fundraiser - the Earth cradled by two hands - went for $500 this year. He sells acrylic paintings, pencil portraits and also donates pieces of art to churches and nonprofit organizations.
Waggoner signs his work as B.A. Christian, to “give the glory to God where it belongs.”
Board of Corrections Vice Chairman Mary Parker gave the keynote speech at Friday’s ceremony. The day before, she had served on a panel at a job fair for inmates about to be paroled from the Ouachita jail.
She compared the two events during her speech.
“Yesterday, we sat in front of a group of men who were scared,” she said. “Where would they live? How would they get a job? How would the community accept them? You have an advantage. You have this program. You have support. And you have opportunities.”
She urged the graduates to give back, telling them they can help Community Correction Assistant Director Kevin Murphy’s dream become a reality. Murphy shared this dream with the Ouachita inmates during Thursday’s job fair.
“My dream,” Murphy said, “is that I would love for every individual released to have a mentor waiting for him.”
That can happen, Parker said.
“Do what somebody in this room did for you,” she said. “The foundation of that dream is in this room today.”
Parker also instructed Pathway participants and graduates to not let their criminal pasts define them.
“That is a part of your life,” she said. “It’s not who you are. It’s not what you are. It’s not your future. Don’t let your past overcome your future. We want you to succeed. We don’t need your business.”
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 04/26/2014