Employers to learn about hiring former inmates at Second Chances Tour next week

One leads to unemployment, homelessness and, all too often, a return to a life of crime. The other leads to employment, housing and becoming a productive citizen.

Oregon’s Second Chance Tour is all about telling employers how they can help newly released inmates choose the better path. It will arrive at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg Wednesday.

The Second Chance Project was started by Milwaukie, Oregon based Dave’s Killer Bread. One third of Dave’s employees have a criminal history, and the company started Second Chance to help encourage other employers to follow its lead.

Nobody knows the value of a second chance better than Chris Beamer. Originally from Nevada, Beamer had been in trouble with the law from the time he was 11 until five years ago. Over his years of crime, Beamer said he had started with vandalizing a vacant house and moved on to drug use and theft. He said he was pretty crazy during those years, and had an “I don’t care” attitude.

Five years ago he landed in Douglas County’s drug court. There, for the first time, he began to learn how to be accountable. Once he was clean and sober, he needed an employer to take a chance on him.

Applebee’s took up the challenge. He worked there two years. He started off as a cook on the fry side of the restaurant, and worked his way up to assistant kitchen manager. He felt that was as far as he could go there, so he applied for a job with Roseburg Forest Products.

RFP had turned him down two years before, because of the felonies on his record. However, with two years of solid work experience under his belt, RFP gave him a second look. He was hired at Plant 4 in Riddle, where he began as a core grader and now pulls green chain — a physically demanding, but well-paid job with a good schedule and full benefits.

Now, whatever life throws at him, he takes it in stride.

“I’ve been through the worst, being locked away from your family and jail and prison, all that stuff. It’s not that bad out here,” he said.

In April, he’ll finally be free and off probation for the first time in his adult life. He’s even turned around and helped other drug court graduates get jobs at Applebees. In the future, he’d like to start a tree-trimming business.

If no one had been willing to hire him back then, he might have given up, but he believes there’s a job out there for everyone. He said he wants employers thinking about hiring people like him to know it’s better to help solve the problem than to sit back and judge people with troubled pasts.

Local Public Safety Coordinating Council Coordinator Melissa McRobbie-Toll said the Second Chance Tour initially wasn’t planning a Roseburg stop, but a group of local leaders successfully convinced the tour to include the city. They included McRobbie-Toll, True North Star Ministries and Douglas County Commissioner Chris Boice, who has employed former inmates at his businesses.

“Our community has a strong interest in giving people second chances, and also it’s good for the community overall when people break the cycle of criminality and become productive citizens and are gainfully employed,” McRobbie-Toll said.

McRobbie-Toll said she expects a good turnout Wednesday. More than 100 people have already registered for the event.

“From my understanding, the turnout is expected to be bigger than those of bigger cities where the tour has stopped. It’s exciting for Roseburg,” she said.

The event is free, but registration is required. Registration is online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oregon-second-chance-tour-roseburg-workshop-tickets-47278426045.

According to the Second Chance Project, one in four Americans has a criminal background. More than 95 percent of prisoners return to their communities, and two-thirds are rearrested within three years.

McRobbie-Toll said sometimes prospective employers of former inmates are concerned that a person with a criminal background won’t be reliable or trustworthy. While there isn’t a 100 percent guarantee a former inmate will be a stellar employee, there are a lot of success stories, she said. She noted that many ex-inmates are still under probation supervision and taking urine tests, which reduces the risk for employers.

She also said she’s been hearing anecdotally that many employers are having a hard time filling vacancies, and hiring former inmates could help solve that problem.

A panel of employers and former inmates will discuss their experiences at Wednesday’s event. After that, participants will join a simulation where they’ll get a taste of what it’s like for a newly released inmate to accomplish tasks like obtaining a bus ticket and identification.

An expert panel will follow with information on insurance, legal issues and background screening.