by Troy Jones-Hafford

Created on: October 06, 2009   Last Updated: October 07, 2009

It always sounds much easier than it is finding work when you are released from prison. I was released a year ago and still can't find work. I didn't realize when I pled guilty to a felony that I would be serving life sustenance. Yea, life sustenance, now every time I apply for work I have to tell them I have a felony.

How fair is that for those who don't have a rap sheet a mile long and just made a bad decision? I paid my debt to society and yet I'm still paying? When does it end, when are I/we forgiven. I haven't killed anyone; I and I sure haven't raped anyone.

I have a 1st degree larceny charge, and now I can't find work. I only have office experience and at this point, I'd do anything. I've even tried getting a manual labor job and I have no experience and they wouldn't hire me.

There's something definitely wrong with the system. I've been to every job link program offered by the state of Florida. I've been to every church in and around the surrounding area and yet there is no help out there at all for us. I'm tired of having to use family and friends to survive, it's not fair to them and isn't fair to me. People talk about recidivism, well what does the system or even society do to help with this problem?

They think that locking us up and throwing away the key works and it doesn't. There are plenty of people out there like myself that want to find work and move on from our wrong doings. I've been so depress over not having a job and not being able to take care of myself, that I attempted suicide. People just don't understand what some of us go through.

We beat ourselves up about what we did wrong daily. I sure do. I had a good life, family, kids, a home, and new cars and yet I threw all that away for greed, and now look at me. I can't find work; I'm left relying on family and friends to live.

Thing is, the government would rather give me $200 a month in food stamps for free, rather than help me find work. I'd rather have them take the $2,600 dollars they've given me for free so far and use that money to help people like myself find work so I can pay for my own food.

Please don't get me wrong, there are certain people that don't learn from their mistakes and will continue to go in and out of the system, but why should the ones that haven't, still be punished for those that have? Why have courts and juries, if society is going to make us pay for the rest of our lives?

It's time society realized that there's a whole new work force out here, it's called felon. We have talent, some of us just need a second chance.

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