“Prison is supposed to be a rehabilitation place and isn’t, but education is,” Kyle says. Kyle, a graduating senior, has been the reentry intern with the PEP for two years. His work largely focuses on creating and expanding resources for people reentering society after being incarcerated.
Some projects Kyle has worked on include creating the reentry portion of our website which includes all sorts of resources and guides for people reentering society and creating a formalized partnership with TRIO (discussed in detail below). He hopes to leave the program with a solid framework and foundation of services as well as a network of connections around the UO campus and Eugene community that the next group of interns can work from to generate more services and opportunities for formerly incarcerated people.
While in the Lane County jail Kyle had expressed interest in educational programs to a guard, who directed him to learning opportunities there. He earned his GED in the jail through a community college program there. Kyle felt that the “natural course of action was to go to school after getting himself together,” and after release started at Lane Community College where he earned his associates degree. After that, Kyle transferred to the University of Oregon where he began his bachelor’s degree. He is currently studying Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM) and got connected to the PEP through Dr. Nicole Ngo, a PPPM professor. Kyle had shared his prior experiences with Dr. Ngo and she sent the internship application to him. “PPPM is a way to give back to the community that I was once a strain on.” In this program Kyle has learned how to work with the nonprofit sector in fields such as addiction and rehabilitation and housing.
Kyle recalls the experience of returning to school as “scary, intimidating, and lonely.” He was twenty-five years removed from the school system and didn’t know how (or when) to share his experiences with faculty and other students. Kyle’s work with the PEP has largely been influenced by his desire to create resources for people starting school that he did not have access to or knowledge of.
Kyle is a current participant at Sponsors. He credits his interest in nonprofit work to his time with their program. “Sponsors is a gold standard reentry program and as good as anybody in the nation,” Kyle remarks. He saw the benefits of a well run nonprofit program as both a participant and someone wanting to improve programs and wanted to work in the field. After graduating in June, Kyle plans to continue working with the nonprofit sector to increase social services in the fields such as rehabilitation and housing.