The 98% - Life After Prison
This podcast is dedicated to the 98% of people incarcerated in North Carolina who will eventually be released from prison back into their communities, often with few, if any resources. Through the voices of people in transition and those who support them, we explore hurdles and life long barriers many justice-involved people confront whether getting a drivers license, finding housing, or trying to find a job. We examine issues like substance use disorder and mental health that plague this population and ask what we as a society can do to support the formerly incarcerated and reduce recidivism. In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a producer and criminal justice advocate. April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022. ART WORK BY JOHN HARDIN
Episodes
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In Episode 5 of April's series, On a Mission with a Purpose, she talks to a man who has experienced incarceration from both sides. As a young man, he worked as a Corrections Officer in a youth detention center in Butner, North Carolina. Years later, he himself landed in prison with a 3-year sentence. Hear his story and learn about his current work as a peer support specialist for So...
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We go behind the walls of Orange Correctional Center in Hillsborough, NC to attend a graduation ceremony for a group of therapy dogs trained by residents of the prison. The non profit, EENP - Ears, Eyes, Nose and Paws - teaches incarcerated people to train therapy dogs that are then partnered with people who have disabilities. Listen and learn how these dogs transform lives.
In 2023, Judy Va...
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In our second episode examining the use of solitary confinement, we meet two people on a mission to end the use of prolonged solitary confinement in our nation's prisons. From personal experience, Craig Waleed understands the psychological harm caused by isolation in a 8x10 box. Dolores Canales was trying to save her son when she first joined the protest against conditions in Californ...
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Meet Drew Doll and Daquan Peters, both survivors of solitary confinement, and both devoted to seeing the practice banned in US prisons. Hear their stories and learn why the Mandela Rules, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, declare the use of prolonged solitary confinement to be torture.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues peopl...
If you want get in touch, send us a text
April riffs on the social, emotional, and psychological difficulties caused by the ongoing trauma of prison. She also shares some of the stubborn habits that have followed her home from her 31 years inside.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal j...
If you want get in touch, send us a text
As a young man Brian Scott saw people in terms of what they could do for him. His behavior eventually led to a 20-year prison sentence. In the four years since his release, Brian's become a leader in North Carolina's reentry movement with his non-profit Our Journey. This is his story.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues peop...
If you want get in touch, send us a text
It's one thing to get out of prison. It's quite another to stay out. More than 40% of returning citizens in North Carolina end up back in prison within the first two years. In this episode, we explore the reasons so many people fall down and are re-incarcerated. We'll meet Delfonzo Brewer and learn how his 27-years in prison left him unprepared for the transition back to s...
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Meet Josh LeRoy, father, husband, and former prison chaplain. Josh spent roughly ten years pastoring to men in minimum security. He says it's the most fun he's ever had in any job. Learn what it was like to arrive at a new prison in the middle of Covid, how he thinks the carceral system should be changed, and why he finds prison ministry so rewarding.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and...
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At the age of 21, Randolph Wilson was sentenced to life in prison in a case built entirely on hearsay. Three co-defendants, who testified against him, later recanted their testimony saying they'd been coerced by the local sheriff. After 33 years behind the wall, Randolph Wilson is a free man. This is his story.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast abou...
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Lyle May received a death sentence in 1999. Since that time, he's found God, gotten sober, and has devoted himself to a life of scholarship and reflection.
This is Episode 3 of April's special series On a Mission with A Purpose, in which she interviews people who are living with meaning and purpose despite their particular circumstance.
Stay Tuned for the Four...
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Formerly incarcerated people face a number of barriers as they try to rebuild their lives after prison. One big one is employment. In this episode, we learn about one company that's made a commitment to providing a second chance and find out what can happen when justice-involved people are given an opportunity.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about t...
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Over the past 20 years, North Carolina’s Legislature has increased court and criminal fees by 400 percent. A good percentage of that money is disbursed to the state’s General Fund, not allocated to the courts, which remain grossly underfunded. In this episode, we learn how court-imposed fees lock people in a cycle of debt and can lead to additional monetary sanctions, driver’s license revo...
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With so much focus on the mass incarceration of men, we often overlook the fact the number of incarcerated women stands almost seven times higher today than it did in 1980. Bianca Harris has watched the rise since she began her career in corrections in 1993. After more than 20 years at North Carolina's largest women’s prison, she has a lot to say about how incarcerated women should b...
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Edward Scott believes having difficult conversations with his loved ones is part of what it takes to be strong person and a good father. He invited us to listen in to the conversation he had with his grown son Terrell about what it was like to grow up without him because he was incarcerated.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people f...
If you want get in touch, send us a text
On a Mission With a Purpose is a series of interviews conducted by April Barber Scales.
Felishia McPherson describes how the lack of cultural understanding she experienced with mental health therapists in prison sent her on a mission to become a mental health counselor herself. Today she is Licensed counselor and a Peer Support Specialist specializing in Reentry and Domestic Viole...
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With a shortage of mental health services in this country, prisons and jails have become a dumping ground for people with mental illness including people with conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Too often these conditions go untreated and people are released back into the community with no support. Learn how Fit Wellness takes a holistic approach to treating formerly incarcer...
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Incarcerated with more than two life sentences, Joe Perry thought he was condemned to die behind bars. But once he found a sliver of hope, he decided he would become a man worthy of his freedom. It took many more years but Joe is now a free man living and working in Durham. This is his story.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people...
If you want get in touch, send us a text
On a Mission With a Purpose is a series of interviews conducted by April Barber Scales. Cierra Cobb has started two new initiatives to advocate for justice involved people. One addresses mental health while the other prepares returning citizens for the job market.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from ...
If you want get in touch, send us a text
It's common knowledge that healthcare in prison is usually substandard at best. And, until recently, most people getting out of prison have had no access to insurance or healthcare. Since 2017, NC FIT - Formerly In Transitions - has been working to change that by connecting formerly incarcerated individuals who have a chronic disease with a primary care provider and a comprehensive ...
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In 2013, Deb Cunningham and Maria Ikenberry began Ear Eyes Nose and Paws, a therapy dog program that trains service dogs for people with mobility and medical issues. Today, incarcerated men do the bulk of the training, transforming their sense of self from someone who's done harm to someone who serves others.
In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about...
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