Archdiocese brings resources to San Quentin with first In-Custody Reentry Fair

“So many people do want to change and just need the opportunity to.”

Billey Le, Success Centers representative, formerly incarcerated     

By Valerie Schmalz

“I get out in 10 days, and I don’t have a job,” said one of the men incarcerated at San Quentin who visited the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s first In-Custody Reentry Fair at the state prison Saturday. “I need to be able to work and I am not sure who will hire me.”

Another man, given a chance to add his name to the sign in sheet at the Archdiocesan Restorative Justice Ministry table said, “I’ve been here 24 years, I don’t have email.”

“We want to bring hope,” and information about resources to inmates, while they are in prison and when they are released, said Julio Escobar, coordinator of the Archdiocesan Restorative Justice Ministry which organized the Saturday event in coordination with the prison’s Catholic chaplain, Jesuit Father George Williams. The fair’s slogan was “Build bridges to successful reentry.”

“So many people do want to change and just need the opportunity to,” said Billey Le, employed full time as a representative for Success Centers, a nonprofit focused on empowering people in difficult circumstances with education, employment and other resources. Le, who is also a research assistant at San Francisco State University, works largely with youth at San Francisco’s Juvenile Hall.

An Excell Network Scholar, Le said staffing a table at the in-custody event reminded him of his time in prison, including a few months at San Quentin State Prison. “For them, seeing another person who was incarcerated be successful out here was inspiring,” said Le, who was greeted by several prisoners as he walked through the facility.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, who regularly comes to San Quentin, participated for part of the day, spending time in conversation with individual inmates and praying with a large circle of inmates and reentry fair volunteers. He will return to say Mass for Mother’s Day at the prison chapel, the archbishop told the men.

Wearing loose sweatshirt clothing in blue and gray, about 200 inmates ranging in age from men in their 20s to those in their 60s or older came at various times to the five-hour long fair held April 5 in a gym-like room at the prison. Guards sat on a platform near the room’s center not far from the ping pong table.

About 4,000 men classified variously from low security risk and near release to high security requiring armed supervision are incarcerated at the prison. California’s state prison population is 90,000. The men who attended the fair, coming in from the yard outside where they walked, played basketball and enjoyed the sunshine, were classified as low security risks.

San Quentin State Prison, first founded in 1852, has been a maximum-security prison with a notorious reputation for gangs, violence and for its role in housing some of the state’s most violent criminals as well as recently demolished Death Row. Johnny Cash famously gave a live concert at the prison in 1969, drawing raucous cheers to his refrain “San Quentin I hate every inch of you.”

Then, in 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a goal of transforming the prison into a Scandinavian style rehabilitation center renamed the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. Estimated costs range from $239 million to $380 million with a projected completion date of 2026. A new education building is under construction and already the prison includes new drought-friendly plantings. On Saturday, young women and girls lined up at the entrance to the prison wearing prom dresses for a father-daughter dance with incarcerated Dads that took over the Protestant and Catholic chapels for the event.

The Archdiocesan In-Custody Reentry Fair on Saturday was modeled on the archdiocese’s annual reentry fair which last September drew 1,200 attendees at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption Event Center. The San Quentin event was much smaller, with 10 organizations set up at tables with information on jobs, housing, and other resources.

“The biggest thing I took away from this amazing event was how much work these men have done in preparation to leave and to reenter successfully and how truly grateful they were for all the resources and information we gave them,” said Victoria Westbrook, Reentry Division Director, SF Adult Probation Department.

“It was really motivationally inspiring to me to be here,” said Bobby Louis Jones-Hanley, the formerly incarcerated Director of Reentry for CROP (Creating Resource Opportunities Program). “They were super motivated, super happy to have us come in,” he said, saying he was uplifted by “all the experiences they shared with me about what they are doing. It was super inspirational.”