Nov. 8, 2023
BY JOHN BAILEY
“Our people, automatically become poor the minute they walk out of detox or prison, but they’re clean and they’re ready to start over.”
- Rev. Susan Smith, Exodus Homes assistant executive director.
What does it look like for the 20,000+ Catawba County residents living in poverty?
- No home?
- No food?
- No transportation?
- No healthcare?
- Not enough income?
- Not enough hope?
It’s all of this and more.
And no single non-profit or public agency can tackle all these issues, but the Catawba County United Way addresses many of them through the support of its community partners.
Since 1944, the United Way has worked to build relationships to support our community with collaboration, compassion and purpose.
This November, the CCUW is taking the time to talk to some of its partners and learn what poverty looks like for the individuals and families they help – what are the key issues their programs address and what areas of improvement are needed to address this concern in Catawba County.
This series will tell the story of poverty from the point of view of those working on the front lines of this issue every day.
Exodus Homes
“If someone gets out of detox and they’re clean and they’re ready to start over again, or they get out of prison and they’re clean and they’re ready to start over again, they are not poor until they step out the door of detox or they step out the door of prison and they don’t have anywhere to live,” Rev. Smith, said.
Exodus Homes is a faith-based United Way agency, offering transitional to long-term supportive housing for homeless recovering people returning to the community from treatment programs and prison. Exodus Homes has a comprehensive array of services to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of its residents. Exodus Homes currently has 73 beds with 9 program locations, according to the agency’s website.
In 2022, Exodus Homes served 163 individuals through its transitional housing program.
Facing Unemployment
According to a Department of Justice special report released in 2021, a third (33%) of persons in the study population did not find employment at any point during the 16 quarters after their release from prison from 2010 to 2014.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) produced this study to fulfill a congressional mandate in the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, part of the 2019 Defense Reauthorization Act (P.L. 116-92, Title XI, Subtitle B, Section 1124). The BJS and the U.S. Census Bureau created a report on post-prison employment of persons released from federal prison. The population in this report includes 51,500 persons released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In comparison, the most recent reported unemployment rate for North Carolina by the Census Bureau is 12.8% while the national unemployment rate is 3.8%.
Getting them a job
For Exodus Homes, helping their residents secure employment is at the heart of their success. The agency is 75% self-supporting because their residents are working and generating revenue through the program or have jobs with a local business.
“In order to not be poor, you have to work, making a living wage,” Smith said.
Still, it’s not always an easy transition.
“When we place somebody with a corporate partner, it might not work out. They might not be fast enough. They’re too old for the position. They thought they could do the job, but just couldn’t,” Smith said.
That's when the agency's vocational training program kicks in to help. Exodus Works can offer landscaping, moving and general labor jobs to its residents.
“Within a week, everyone is working,” Smith said.
Watch Jim Jernigan share his story of finding a new path in life with the help of Exodus Homes.
First Week
While the long-term goal is a good job that pays a living wage and has benefits within 90 days, the focus of the first week at Exodus Homes is building the foundation residents will need to permanently rebuild their lives.
They go to Greater Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry to get their clinic card and pharmacy card. Clients are referred to Catawba Valley Healthcare for brain health medications or to Cognitive Connection for suboxone if they’re in the agency’s medically assisted treatment program.
“Again, addressing poverty – if someone doesn’t have the medication they need or they’re insulin or an inhaler, if you’re not healthy enough to work then you’re going to be poor,” Smith said.
Exodus staff also spends that initial week helping residents get any other documentation they might not have – ID card, birth certificate, social security card.
“We have one guy who’s been working at a local company for 90 days and they want to hire him but he didn’t have a social security card,” Smith said. “I suggested he go online to the IRS and get an old tax return, something with his social security number, but he isn’t computer literate so someone needs to help him because you can't get it online if you don’t know how.”
Two other major roadblocks Exodus Homes residents face after they leave treatment or prison, are dependable transportation and affordable housing. Fortunately, the agency has programs in place to address these issues for them. This is not the case for everyone.
"It would save a lot of people from being poor if they had access to a way to get back and forth to work every day, get a ride to the store, get a ride to the doctor," Smith said.
And it's difficult for anyone with a criminal record to find an affordable, decent home, no matter how much money you have. The stigma of incarceration and addiction is oppressive.
Rev. Smith admits once someone loses their traction in our country, it’s hard to get it back.
“We’re the only support after they’ve burned all their other bridges to help,” she said. “We tell them they get an ‘A’ walking through the door. It’s up to them to keep it.”
- Follow the series next week in the CCUW’s Friday newsletter.