MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — Curbing crime in Mecklenburg County is proving to be a challenge with a growing number of repeat offenders.
"I entered the system when I was 14 and I got out at 41," Chablis Dandridge, a peers support specialist, said.
Dandridge said he knows firsthand what it's like to to back and forth behind bars.
"I'm a repeat offender and I spent a lifetime in and out of incarceration," Dandridge said.
It’s a vicious cycle Dorian Johnson, the detention program director, has been working to break.
"We have a national 67.5% re-arrest rate within three years and 83% within nine years," Johnson said.
Johnson said if they don’t correct those behaviors inside of the department of corrections, it’s a deficit for everyone.
As they work to close the revolving door, there are programs to help people while inside, but it’s the barriers outside that lead many offenders right back where they started.
"When a person is released their basic needs are not taken care of, they don't have medical care, housing, transportation," Johnson said.
Johnson said as a result, those that are trying to be successful have no way to accomplish it.
To keep people from coming back, Johnson said they’re not only connecting them to different programs, but they’re also allowing previous offenders to connect with them while they’re in custody to stay in touch.
"These are the people who shared that same anxiety and they're a tangible manifestation of who this person can be if they accept help and take active steps," Johnson said.
Peer support specialists like Dandridge said the mission is personal.
"I kept doing the same thing expecting a different result," Dandridge said.
After serving a 13-year sentence, he now serves as an example with hopes of giving people the power and strength to rewrite their endings. Dandridge also wrote a book to help sharing his raw emotions while in custody.
"All they need is to know that they have a place and that people are going to accept and receive them for their true value," Dandridge said.
Contact Tradesha Woodard at twoodard1@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.