SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – A program at the East Mesa Reentry facility is helping inmates transition out of jail and back into the workforce.
This program is offering inmates certificates in trades which include welding, construction, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and more. The participants study and earn these certificates for free. The reentry program is helping over 700 men head back into the workforce in a positive way.
“It’s something that they can give back to the community later on in life, where at one point they took away, but now they feel like they actually achieved something,” said Detron Williams.
Williams is a few months away from earning a trade certificate in construction.
The reentry program not only focuses on education but also helps inmates understand their emotions and build confidence.
“They’ve built the confidence now, and they have learned the different techniques so that when they are out in the community they can either start a new life or they can go back to the work that they previously had,” Matt Russo said.
For Williams and the other inmates he has talked to, this program also provides a sense of accomplishment.
“Now they are building structures that later on in the future they can drive by and say I built that, I helped that,” Williams said.
