Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 101
CHAPTER 3
their re-entry into everyday life. Participants come predominantly from the Over the Rhine
(OTR) community of Cincinnati, a depressed area of the city known for concentrated poverty
and violent crime associated with the drug trade. The program’s goal was to help the men
get jobs. It was founded in 2007 by Brother Mike Murphy after his return to Cincinnati from
India, where he had spent 12 years with the Missionaries of Charity led by Mother Teresa.
2007 was a discouraging time to be launching a program to help a group of men with
criminal records find jobs—a difficult task even in a strong economy. The end of 2007 was the
beginning of the Great Recession.
Many of the prospects Mike had
Figure 3.2 State Polices Regarding Disqualification of SNAP
worked to cultivate fell through.
Benefits for Ex-offenders who Committed A
The owner of a construction com
Drug Felony
pany had agreed to provide jobs to
20 men if Mike would work with
them to obtain driver’s licenses
and General Equivalency Degrees
(GEDs). Mike held up his end of
the bargain, but as the recession
worsened, the company no longer
DC
had the jobs to offer.
At first sight, Mike does not
look like the natural leader of such
a program. He is white and the
Alaska
men are without exception African
American. At 73, he is older than
the participants by decades—by
50 years in some cases. When he
returned from India, he had little
Drug Felony Disqualification Policy
Guam
Hawaii
Virgin Islands
experience with ex-offenders and
Lifetime Ban (12)
had not expected to be working
Modified Ban (20)
with them. But his parish commuNo Ban (21)
nity challenged him to reach out to
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (2012).
the men standing on street corners
all day, unable to find work.
Initially, he thought the men were jobless because they lacked the skills that employers
needed. He soon realized, though, that legal obstacles kept them from getting and holding
onto jobs. The biggest difference between Mike and the men in the program was how they
were viewed and treated by government. Changing the laws had to be at the top of the HELP
Program’s agenda, he realized.
In 2012, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed Senate Bill (SB) 337, an extensive reform
of the employment restrictions on returning citizens. Through their lobbying efforts, the
men in the HELP Program were instrumental in its passage. They met with legislators
and shared their experiences of wanting to work but not being able to get jobs, in large
part because of state sanctions. At the time the governor signed the bill, TJ was in prison
for a parole violation but was following the bill’s progress in the newspaper. He wept when
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