A program at the Mecklenburg County Jail helps inmates improve their credit scores and start a business before they’re released. Peace for Poverty’s Next Great 50 program gives former inmates hope and a fresh start while they’re still serving their sentences.
Xavier East has been in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center for over three years.
“When you’re locked up, you have to make the most of your time,” East said. “You have to evolve. You have to educate yourself.”
The 26-year-old has plans to start over after his release.
“I’ve been teaching myself how to cut hair ever since I got into it,” East said. “So naturally I thought it would be a good idea to go out there and open a hair salon.”
East is a graduate of the Next Great 50 program, which helps inmates at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center build a business and improve their credit scores before their release. So far, graduates have started 56 businesses for careers in hair salons, transportation, retail and more.
“They build the website for you. They get you the LLC and your EIN number,” East said. “You just have to go to class and learn a few new things.”
The eight-week course brings together financial advisers, psychologists, business consultants and educators to give prison inmates the tools they need to move on after serving their sentences. Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden says the course costs less than $7,000 to run.
“It reduces recidivism. They have something to look forward to. They have a goal,” said Sheriff McFadden. “Imagine coming home and telling your significant other, ‘Not only do I have a job, I’m the CEO of that job.'”
Data shows that nearly 50% of people incarcerated in North Carolina end up back in prison after they are released. Sheriff McFadden says that in Mecklenburg County, only 29% of people return.
“We’re hoping someone will see this and come to us and say, ‘Let me implement this in your detention centers across the country,'” said Sheriff McFadden. “It’s easy and we can do it virtually.”
East says Next Great 50 gave him the tools he needs to succeed out there.
“These are people who have actually taken business courses and gone to business school who haven’t learned what we’re learning in these courses,” East said. “I know that one day I’m going to go home and I’m going to have to build a house there. It’s easier to have the foundation of the house already built.”
Next Great 50 for returning citizens is so popular that there is a waiting list at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center for anyone who wants to participate. The next group starts September 7.
