By Valerie Schmalz
Billey Le counts the six months that turned into 10 years that he spent in prison an answer to prayer – a prayer he did not make. Today he has been out for four years, graduated from college, living and working independently the entire time. He is now living the dream he had – working at two juvenile halls, helping youth find a better path.
“I started going to church while incarcerated. I started figuring out what is God. God is always with me. Why is God always with me? I had been a bad person my whole life,” asked Le, who converted to Catholicism while at San Quentin State Prison. “I came to the realization that God is love.”
Le was one of six panelists who shared their stories as part of “The Role of Faith in Healing, Accountability, and Reentry” at the 14th annual Reentry Conference & Expo held Sept. 18 at St. Mary’s Cathedral Event Center in San Francisco. The panel on faith was one of 30 offered at the all-day Reentry Conference that drew more than 800 attendees.
Panelists L-R: Billey Le, John Schoppe-Rico, David Chavez, Wayne Jordan, Thomas Wynn, and Paulie Loutzenhiser. Standing John Cunningham, moderator.
The annual Reentry Conference & Expo’s mission is to offer resources and support to those impacted by incarceration by bringing together service providers, employers, faith communities, and advocates.
“Faith has played a large part in our lives, of people who have been formerly incarcerated,” said panel moderator John Cunningham, formerly incarcerated and “returned home” 10 years ago. “For many people returning home after incarceration, faith communities can offer encouragement, structure, accountability and most of all a sense of belonging and community.”
Cunningham is a senior pastor at a Hayward Baptist church and pursuing a master’s and a Ph.D. while working as a psych manager for a program helping recently released prisoners.
“Reentry often begins before release. There comes a moment of accountability,” in a meeting, in chapel or somewhere else, Cunningham said, but it is “the decision to believe our life will take a different direction.”
All of the panelists were either graduates or current students of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Excell Network, a mentoring and scholarship program for formerly incarcerated men and women, developed by Archdiocesan Restorative Justice Ministry Coordinator Julio Escobar.
“Faith in God is at the heart of what we do,” said Escobar. “The true success of this conference was measured not only by the 800 people and 90 organizations who participated, but by the opportunities created, the relationships formed, and the renewed hope shared throughout the day.”
Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone with Restorative Justice Ministry Coordinator Julio Escobar. The Archbishop led a prayer to bless the conference. (Photo credit Colleen Dooley)
Faith and community are lifelines, said Paulie Loutzenhiser, who came out to nothing nine months ago after a quarter of a century inside. He now sends cards and packages to those still in prison and supports those released from prison into an often unfamiliar and lonely world.
Each of the men who spoke were finding ways to help others as part of their return to society. John Schoppe-Rico, incarcerated as a youth offender and just released after 26 years, founded Incarcerated Hearts in prison for those married to learn the skills to stay married after release from prison. Wayne Jordan was on his way to Ghana on a mission trip the day of the panel. His take was: “Anything good is God. Anything wrong is me. It is only God.”
John Cunningham, moderator
Thomas Wynn, incarcerated for 39 years and out for one year, is studying for a communications degree, part of the CROP Program, and working to bring dying prisoners who have no one out of prison to die in a place of love and comfort. David Chavez was addicted, mostly homeless, and incarcerated at 14. He thought his future was prison. In recovery for two years, he is working at St. Anthony Foundation and attending City College of San Francisco with a goal of a social work degree.
“One of the things I hope you will see in all of us is that where we began, we did not stay there,” said Cunningham. “We are brothers fit for fight and we are happy to be here.”
Learn more about the Excell Network here.
