Ted arrived on Wednesday. Housed in a renovated motel, the Center has two stories. Ted stays with 13 other residents in a room on the second floor. The walls between three average-sized motel rooms were knocked out to form their large room and seven bunk beds were installed. Ted has a top bunk three feet from a window. There are three showers and three windows in their room and each resident has their own large locker (with lock) in which to keep their belongings. The floor is not carpeted, but is blue.
Ted said the Center has 296 residents. (The FL DOC site lists 265 residents.) It is the largest residential reentry center in Florida and Ted said it opened around 2008. The rooms have all been remodeled and look new. A basketball court and picnic table are in what used to be a parking lot. Trees line a field and track next door. A chain-link fence surrounds the whole residence.
I brought Ted some new clothes and apparently two of the pairs of pants don’t fit and his old shoes which I brought from home are too small. They will let me switch out those clothes for others.
He left the visit early today to go with five other residents to a Goodwill store to buy other items he might need in the way of clothing. He was given a $20 voucher, but he will need to reimburse that out of his future earnings. (He just called and told me that the $20 bought two pairs of jeans and one pair of dress pants that were a little too long, but they didn’t have anything else.)
They also charged him $25 for a new ID and $55 for a bus pass, which he will need to pay back. The total amount he needs repay is $114. That amount includes charges for laundry costs. Ted is responsible for washing his own clothes.
Ted has only one month to find a job, not three months as another inmate told him at Orlando. Many of the residents work at telemarketing jobs and there is a business just down the road that sells magazine subscriptions. A little farther south within walking distance is a large shopping center with a grocery store, several restaurants, office supply store, video rental store, theater and several small shops. Many of the residents have bikes to get to their jobs, others take the bus. Residents are not allowed to have cars.
Ted told me that two of the Center’s residents were returned to prison and two were returned to jail yesterday for escaping. He was supposed to go to the thrift shop last night, but all the vans were out looking for these residents. Apparently, when a couple of the residents were supposed to go to their jobs, they were sent home, and instead of returning to the Center, they went out with their girlfriends. If the residents aren’t at work, they need to be at the Center - otherwise it’s considered an escape attempt.
When residents begin to build money in their accounts, they can buy extra food – even steak. Ted ate breakfast and lunch (steak!) during the visit – a steak costs only $4. It was the first time in two years he ate bacon and steak. Ted said the food is much better at the Center than in prison. For breakfast (for both residents and visitors) this morning, they served scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes, [what looked like] corned beef hash, biscuits and gravy. The food definitely tasted better than some local restaurants.
Residents have one large common room (off of the cafeteria at the front of the Center) that has one TV. They can watch news in the morning and rented movies in the evening. Several shelves in the room contain many books for the residents to read. There is one computer off to the side for residents to play Solitaire or another computer game.
There are many phones which the residents can use – some are free and some are payphones. Ted said the lines for the free phones are usually pretty long. He has access to a phone book and Help Wanted ads in the newspaper that he can call for job openings.
Ted can begin to apply for jobs once he has his new ID. He thinks he will get the ID on Monday.
I finally received a letter from Ted on Friday with several blog entries so I’ll have plenty of upcoming posts. He told me he mailed the letter back when he first arrived at the CFRC in Orlando.
Photo: Google Earth photo of the Largo Residential Reentry Center. A mobile home park is behind the Center and not part of the residence. Click photo to enlarge.
No comments:
Post a Comment