WAYNE COUNTY, N.C. — The recidivism rate in Wayne County is about 25%, meaning one out of every four people who go to jail, ends up back behind bars after they’re released. However, the county’s sheriff and community advocates are trying to change that.
One of those advocates is Michael Olliver. He spent more than ten years in prison. These days, he’s devoting his time to supporting people when they’re released, starting in his own community of Mt. Olive.
“When I really reflect on life and the man I’ve become today, it’s because of prison,” Olliver said. “I committed a crime and ended up going to prison for over a decade.”
Olliver is not shy about sharing his story and he said it was his time behind bars that was actually the key to his success.
“In prison, I found a new way of living, a new way of thinking about life itself. What I saw was people were broken,” Olliver said.
He had a support system when he got out, but he was one of the lucky ones.
“I was around men who didn’t have any help when they were released from prison. They would be released with a $45 gate check, no place to go and no resources to better themselves. That’s a hurtful thing to see men come to you in tears, not wanting to leave prison,” Olliver said.
He decided then that he would dedicate his life to helping others, starting with teaching GED classes to fellow inmates.
“Those things are really important to me, that people were able to do things in prison that they weren’t able to do on the streets,” Olliver said.
Now, he’s striving to be a beacon of light.
“If we don’t show each other that we can overcome obstacles that are bigger than ourselves, then no one else can believe in themselves,” Olliver said.
If you ask Olliver about his most transformative moment, chances are he’ll tell you it was his time in prison, forget the fact he was drafted into the NBA.
“When you come out on the other side and you see what God has done in your life and made you such a better man or a woman, then you can’t deny that this had to be a part of your journey,” Olliver said.
Olliver is also leading a nonprofit called, “Alkebulan Community Reform". He works on projects like collecting clothing or food for people in need, mowing lawns of abandoned houses in the area and is fundraising to fix up the town’s basketball courts.
As for Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce, he said this past year the county received a grant through the Bureau of Justice. That grant helped implement a program that really came to fruition in March and April of this year. Pierce said it offers resources to inmates like peer support, help with goal setting as well as a GED program.
“You know, it is my job to take bad folks off the street and put them in jail, but it’s a situation now where a lot of people have an additional mental health issue that they really need some additional help and just us locking them up and, so to speak, throwing away the key is not the answer,” Pierce said.
Pierce is also working with an organization called, "Hope Restorations Inc". It helps fix up homes that will serve as affordable housing for lower-income families, former addicts and people who were formerly incarcerated.