Charles Russell swears by the power of
God and vocational training.
After a rough upbringing in South Central
Los Angeles and 20 years in and out of state prison, the
51-year-old Greenfield resident credits his current life with
wife, children and his own home to finding religion and learning a
trade during his last stint at the California Correctional Center
in Susanville.
When he walked out of there 14 years ago,
he had a job, a house waiting for him and the determination to not
go back.
"Before I got out, for two and a half
years I kept going to church," Russell said. "I learned how to
love myself. I decided to come home and be responsible. I've been
able to turn my life around."
Now Russell is one of the members of
Monterey County's religious community advocating for the opening
of a 500-bed re-entry facility in Salinas, a project that comes
with an $80 million grant to help refurbish the county jail.
Charles Russell
speaks about the path that took him in and out of
prison... (DAVID ROYAL/The Herald)
The so-called re-entry facility is a
project of the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation aimed at reducing the 70 percent recidivism rate in
the state and the severe overcrowding in the prison system. It has
encountered many detractors, mostly residents of the Salinas
neighborhood where the new detention center would be built.
But it also has its supporters, mostly
former inmates and their families who want to break the seemingly
never-ending prison cycle.
"The main thing is that it's going to
bring families back together," Russell
said. "When a husband takes anger
management classes, the wife takes anger management, and now the
husband has a job and spiritual resources," he is going to have
another chance, Russell said.
Vocational training is actually Russell's
fourth chance at life. Two of them came when he recovered after
overdosing twice on Angel Dust, or PCP. Another time, he was able
to fend off an attacker who wanted to kill him with a meat
cleaver. His fourth chance came when he was trained as a meat
cutter in Susanville.
One of Russell's earliest recollections
is of his father, a former Marine, severely abusing his mother.
"Ever since I was 4 years old, I saw my
dad beat my mom," he said. "Probably I used to hurt people because
I thought that's what you're supposed to do. But that ain't love."
The lack of respect that surrounded him
prevented him from learning how to love himself, he said, so he
went on abusing his body — and committing crimes against people —
every time he was out of jail. He was sentenced different times
for selling drugs, stealing a car, shooting at another man.
While completing a six-year sentence at
Susanville for assault with a deadly weapon, his pastor tried to
convince him Jesus loved him.
"I didn't know what love was," he said.
"I asked him to pray for me, to teach me how to love myself."
At Susanville, he signed up for meat
cutting training. There was nothing else he wanted to do: no
carpentry, no masonry, no plumbing, no auto mechanics. He calls it
a sign from God that he got into the overcrowded classes after a
few weeks' wait.
"When I got out, I was able to go through
the rest of my training," he said. "They buy your work tools, your
work clothes, they give you bus passes, they pay your wages for 90
days to prove you can do the job. They taught me how to interview,
how to write a résumé, how to carry myself in an interview. After
90 days they kept me and I worked there for four years."
As a general rule, inmates only get $200
and a bus ticket to their county of last residency when they get
out of prison.
"People are scared to get out," Russell
said. "They know they burned their bridges before they went in.
They probably stole from their parents."
For the past 14 years, Russell has raised
a family, paid his bills and even purchased a home. He also gives
back to men who are in a situation reminiscent of his past, trying
to steer them back to the right path.
"It feels so good being a productive
member of society, being able to help those in need," he said.
Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached
at 753-6755 or
cmelendez@montereyherald.com.