Local nonprofit offers support for formerly incarcerated people

Carla Williams and Ricky Rodas on December 13, 2018

Community Works is a nonprofit organization in Oakland that provides services for formerly incarcerated people. These include parenting classes and groups that help men discuss ways they can overcome “toxic” masculine behaviors. For the past year, Community Works has hosted a weekly “restorative justice circle,” also known as a “citizens’ circle,” in their office for people who have been paroled after initially being sentenced to life in prison. There are two separate groups that meet on Tuesday and Wednesday nights to discuss re-entering society with games and conversation.

“A lot of these men have had similar groups while they were in prison,” said Jo Bauen, the group’s organizer. “And when they got out, they needed support from people who could relate to their experiences.”

Click through the photos below to see how the circle works.

You can learn more about the effect incarceration has on families here.

: A compilation of photos from incarcerated men in a Community Works parenting class who wrote letters to their children.

: Formerly incarcerated people, volunteers, and Community Works staff arrange the furniture into a circle in a large room for their “citizens’ circle” group meeting.

: Using talking prompts, each person who holds the feather has to share what they bring to the group.

: The group transitions into a game that requires people to move around and express how they feel.

: The “citizens’ circle” plays a game in which each person must guess the characteristics of another person. Each is given a piece of paper that lists different characteristics like “honest,” “kind,” and “loving.”

: Program director Jo Bauen tells members to circle five words that they think represent each person, while the program organizer writes the words on a dry erase board. Then group members decide whether or not they agree with the ways others describe them.

: Tommie Powell, who is a formerly incarcerated man, looks up at the dry-erase board before the game begins. The purpose of this game is to see how others may perceive a person’s character, compared to how this person sees themselves.

: Troy Williams, a project coordinator at Community Works, is the first person to volunteer to have the group guess his character traits.

: Lumumba Edwards, who is formerly incarcerated man, laughed and enjoyed trying to guess the character traits of his circle mates during the game.

: Kenny Glaude, who was formerly incarcerated, serves as this night’s circle leader.

: The circle ends with a “check out” to see how everyone is doing and what they feel they gained from coming to the group that night. Volunteer Dashka Slater is holding the talking piece as she speaks about what she is grateful for.

: Some people remind each other that the group is a sacred space. Others say they are leaving the group that night with more energy than they had entered with. Circle member Carlus Ray Evans takes time to reflect on what he gained from being at the meeting.

: After everyone has a chance to speak, all of the talking pieces are returned to the table. Kenny Glaude helps put all of the talking pieces on the table at the end of the meeting.