This was the first Reentry Resource Forum event, which brought together a number of county and state agencies to offer access to services — from getting a driver’s license to a job.
Darryl Brooks has been working as a test proctor at Rutgers University-Camden since his release two years ago.
He served a decade behind bars for a drug and weapons conviction, and says adjusting to freedom, again, is an ongoing process.
“You'll never get to a place where you're comfortable and you're saying ‘Okay. Now I've made it,’” he said. “There’s always going to be the temptations from your past and any incidents, isolated or not, that might confront you in the future.” Brooks also volunteers as a mentor for other men to demonstrate there can be life after incarceration if you want it and are prepared to work for it.
“No matter what you've done there’s always another opportunity, not a chance but an opportunity, for you to change your circumstances and your condition,” he added.
County leaders have reduced the prison population by more than half over a decade. Efforts such as the Reentry Resource Forum are aimed at keeping that trend up.