Former inmate Johnél Allen-Bay is dedicated to helping give others a second chance. Allen-Bay joined Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson in announcing a new program, called HOPE, which stands for “Helping Others by Providing Education”.
Hennepin County’s program was modeled after a similar program in Genesee County, Michigan, which is where Allen-Bay served time. He is passionate about the program there, called IGNITE, and is hopeful that it can work here too.
“So by taking the time to educate, stimulate and put this blueprint down, we’ll change America,” says Allen-Bay. “Where you will look at each other, no matter what color you are, no matter where you been and say, listen, they're human.”
Allen-Bay believes very strongly in the possibility of education, and job training, ultimately changing attitudes.
We will live to see a day when we will never classify each other as black and white,” Allen-Bay said. “But as citizens of the United States of America, that's the culture change we're trying to implement. That's what this program can do. It can ignite with hope.”
Hennepin County is working with private companies, and the Minneapolis School District, to implement the program. Hope Patterson is with the district's adult basic education, explaining how it will work, with inmates using computer tablets for learning for two hours a day.
“So this is a great opportunity for us to make sure that the inmates, that our in house, they get their education,” Patterson said. “One to be successful, two to get employment, three to come back and be able to make sure that their communities are getting what they need.”
Chris Swanson is the sheriff of Genesee County Michigan, in Flint. He says it will be up to each inmate to decide if they want to take part.
“If somebody's got what somebody wants, they're going to do what it takes to get what they got,” Swanson said. “If somebody's out extra, and has the incentive of a tablet and they're watching breaking movies that are shown in theaters, and they're listening to music and you're locked up in your bunk? You're going to say, what do I need to do to do that?”
In Michigan, Swanson says they have a wraparound service, with a separate buildings to help inmates when they are released. All of it is an effort to reduce recidivism rates.
Hennepin County Sergeant Adam Hernke is director of the program, and during Monday's announcement he asked the public for help.
“If you want to help let me know,” Hernke said. “Off to my right side you see some Chromebooks. These are the start of our image education program. This is a sample. I want more. I want to grow this to the entire jail. We have 600 inmates. Can I get 600 Chromebooks? Man that'd be great, right? We want everybody educated. That's what we need and I will keep fighting for everybody until we get there.”
You can reach out to the Hennepin County program and help by calling 612-596-8089.
