By Kylie Marsh
Kylie.marsh@triangletribune
Life isn’t easy for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Dennis Gaddy founded Community Success Initiative in 2004 after seeing the struggles others faced when trying to find stability after prison.
“I saw a lot of people who were coming home who were not as fortunate as I was,” he told The Tribune. Though Gaddy had a support system, he saw others finding difficulty becoming integrated back into society.
Raleigh-based CSI is a nonprofit organization focused on assisting formerly incarcerated individuals with reentry. On March 28, the organization will host its first National Speaker’s Bureau in Knightdale, which brings success stories from former prisoners to inspire others.
“People who have not just turned their lives around but have done something with their lives,” Gaddy said. “Written books, some have started their own businesses and things like that.”
CSI works to break down the barriers people find themselves battling, such as finding employment and housing. The organization provides education in essential life skills, leadership, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, mental health and substance abuse support, and reentry preparation. It also hosts family sessions, support groups, and peer gatherings to strengthen relationships, share resources and build empowerment.
“There’s a quote I give people that one out of six people in North Carolina have a criminal record, but six out of six people have a criminal history,” Gaddy said. “That means they’ve done something, they just haven’t gotten caught.”
CSI also has annual lobby days, where staff speak to North Carolina legislators.
“We deal with the legislation that is hindering people who have records from going forward,” Gaddy said. That work can also be boosted by partnering with corporations like AT&T, Golden Corral and PNC Bank, which is the motivation behind launching the National Speaker’s Bureau.
In its North Carolina profile, The Prison Policy Initiative reports that the state incarcerates approximately 559 people per 100,000, or about 57,000 individuals across immigration juvenile, and adult detention facilities.
A 2023 analysis from N.C. Reentry Outcome Reporting System by the North Carolina Department of Commerce reported that “those exiting prison in 2021 were less likely to be employed than they were back in 1997.”
Black people are disproportionately represented in the prison system. In 2021, they comprised 51% of those incarcerated in North Carolina prisons, more than double their 20% share of the overall statewide population. However, the data also showed that white ex-prisoners were less successful in finding employment in 2021 than their Black counterparts.
“If you talk to some employers, they’ll say this person is more job ready than the person who has never been incarcerated, because they know that they have a second chance,” Gaddy said.
