Success Stories: "David"

With the end of 2004 drawing near, "David" faced a crisis. Looking back, he admits, "I had given up hope on this system. I was at the breaking point of saying the system doesn’t work for me." As an ex-felon, he had encountered numerous obstacles in his attempts to reenter society and regain the full benefits of citizenship.

Though David was discouraged, many people who knew him recognized his leadership potential. With the encouragement of his cousin, who had graduated from Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland in 2003, and with funding support from his City Council representative, Sabra Pierce Scott, David decided to apply for Class 21 of Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland. He was admitted to the class, which began in January 2005.

David made excellent use of his NLC experience. He developed relationships with the other grassroots leaders in his class; he learned about the challenges facing neighborhoods throughout Greater Cleveland; and, for his class project, he researched the legal ramifications faced by ex-felons and their challenges in securing affordable housing.

David calls his participation in NLC "an eye-opening experience" that helped him "understand my responsibility to my community." Through his interactions with his diverse classmates, he came to recognize that his community was not alone in the challenges it faced. He emphasizes that the class "made me understand how important it is to make connections with other people who are concerned about their communities."

After graduating from Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland, David continued to work with a group of other NLC graduates on the challenges of community reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals. That group met often with the City of Cleveland and the Adult Parole Authority to discuss strategies for meeting the reentry challenge. As those strategic discussions progressed, David impressed the other partners with his skills and commitment.

Now David is a VISTA volunteer working in the Mayor's Office on reentry issues. In addition to a modest stipend, he also receives life insurance, health insurance, and—upon the fulfillment of his one-year commitment—money for college. He attends national VISTA conferences, where he makes extensive use of the networking skills he developed in his NLC class.

At the same time that he is expanding his network to include VISTA volunteers from other cities, David continues to call upon his NLC classmates in his current work. With one classmate who has experience with the homeless population, David is learning about resources available to homeless ex-offenders. With another classmate from East Cleveland, he is exploring the prospect of setting up a Citizens Circle for ex-offenders returning to that community. And with yet another classmate, he is working to involve ex-felons in the electoral process.

David's is a story of individual progress, but it's also a story of community success. With support from friends, family, and NLC classmates, David began to believe that he could make a difference. Now the community is benefiting from his efforts.

"I was throwing rocks at the castle," says David. "Now I’m in the castle."