Sick at the Largo Residential Reentry Center

Ted fell very ill on Thursday. He called yesterday and told me that he had begged several times to be taken to the hospital or a doctor. Each time, he was told by a staff member, “Leave me alone. I’m busy.”

Ted was unable to get out of bed and was throwing up repeatedly. He alternated between sweating and the chills. He was unable to eat and his nose was running. He also discovered a large bump on his skin.

Ted had previously told me a few months ago that the inmates at Lancaster would be getting swine flu vaccinations. I asked him if he had ever received one and he said no. Several of his symptoms were similar to the swine flu.

I called the Largo Residential Reentry Center and was disconnected four times. I was transferred to several individuals and kept repeating that Ted needed to get medical attention. Finally I left my number and told them I would be calling the Florida Department of Corrections in Tallahassee.

Within five minutes, I received a call back. I reiterated that Ted needed medical attention and had been told to ‘shut up and go away’. The person I spoke with said it sounded as if Ted needed to be transferred back to prison. I immediately got upset because it sounded as if he was being punished for being so ill. She told me that I had misunderstood and if he was that sick, he would be transferred to Zephyrhills C.I. where a doctor would look at him immediately. I asked if he would return to the Largo Center and she said it would be up to the doctor.

Several hours later, I called back to check on Ted. I spoke to the same woman and she told me two times that Ted did not have the flu.

They got Ted out of bed and put him on the phone. Ted told me that he had been taken to a walk-in clinic. I asked him how they determined he did not have the flu. Did they take blood samples? He said, no, they just took his vital signs and he did have a temperature. They had told him at the clinic he had a virus. (Note to staff: "The flu" is a virus.) Without a blood test, it’s impossible to determine if he has the swine flu. He was also instructed to return to the clinic to get a test of the bump on his skin.

Ted is feeling just a bit better today. The Center is charging Ted $70 for the clinic visit to be paid out of his earnings.

Night shift

Well I guess I wasn’t doing too good at work because I got switched to the night shift. I was making sales – I just wasn’t making enough of them.

The night shift is only part-time, which sucks, but I do like the people I work with now a little more. Even though night shift may have a better working environment, I still wish I could get more hours.

I need to find another job soon so that I will have a decent amount of money saved up by the time I get out. Now that I’m working 4:30 – 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 12:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. on Saturdays, at least that will give me some time to go look for a second job during the day.

All I want for now is a job paying $9 or $10 an hour with 40 hours a week. A normal full-time job.

Updated release date

Ted wrote this about four weeks ago.

Today I finished my last day of training at my job. Training only lasted the first half of the day and for the rest of the day I was on the phone. I even made a deal today. I know one deal isn’t much compared to what other people do there, but I think I did a pretty good job for my first day on the phone.

Another good thing about my job is that we mainly call commercial businesses so there won’t be a lot of people cussing me out. I don’t think I could handle that for too long.

All the people that I work with are really nice, so the work environment is really good too.

Only about four months to go…

Ted still accumulates gain time of 10 days per month for good behavior. His current release date is September 12th, but he can conceivably earn 30 more days off for good behavior, putting his release date in mid-August.

My last good-bye

This is for the people I know.

Okay, so I’m back, but let me say this now and get it over with: “Don’t come see me, don’t try and write me, and if you see me, just keep walking.”

I don’t blame anybody for the things I’ve done and it’s not like I don’t have love for you, but if I don’t stay away from the old life, I’ll end up spending more time in prison than hanging out with ya’ll. It’s better for you not to have me around anyway.

So if you see me on the bus or at Walmart or something, you might as well pretend like you don’t know me.

I guess you could consider this my last good-bye to all of you.

Hired at a new job

This entry was written a bit before Ted’s last entry, but I mistakenly overlooked it.

Well I finally got a job. I start next week, but I’m not really sure about it. Even though I’ve only been here a couple of weeks, I felt the pressure of not being able to find a job, so I went and got a telemarketing job.

Don’t get me wrong, I realize I can’t be too picky, but I’m not too good at talking to people on the phone when they’re yelling at me.

I really wish I had time to go looking for another job, but once I start on Monday, my hours will be Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., and it takes 1½ hours to even get there on the bus. So I’m going to have to stick it out at this job whether I want to or not.

The good thing though is that I can make a lot of money if I do well. So while I’m working there, I’m going to try to do my best.

My first day

I started my new job today. I haven’t gotten on the phone yet since I’m still just in training, but I can tell it’s not that bad. Unlike most telemarketing places, we aren’t selling anything. All we do is call people up and try to save them money on their electricity bill. People that work there seem to make a lot of deals, so it must not be too hard.

Tomorrow I go back to finish training and by the end of the day, I should be on the phones. Even though I know this job will get boring, I think I’ll be able to handle it. I just hope I can make $1,000 a week checks like some other people there.

This is a good opportunity to make some good money and I need every penny I can get, so I can pay the court costs off. All in all, though, I don’t think this job will be all that bad.

This blog entry was also written three weeks ago. Ted will be starting his fourth week on the job tomorrow.

My new job on the outside

This entry was also written three weeks ago. Ted got a job in a week and a half after applying to four Clearwater Beach resorts with no success.

Well I got a job today. My roommate told me that I could make $1,000 a week working where he was. At first I didn’t want to go because it was telemarketing and I’d have to wear a tie, but I convinced myself to go. Hey it’s a job and if I can make a lot of money, that’s good too. I start working next Tuesday. That’s when I start training.

Another good thing about this job is it takes 1 ½ hours to get there on a bus which gives me an extra three hours away from the work release center. Most telemarketing places are really stressful because you’re normally selling something, but the place I’m going to be working at doesn’t sell anything. All we do is try to lower people’s utility bills by switching their electricity or natural gas supplier. Plus we call mostly commercial, so I won’t have to hear people cuss at me like I would elsewhere.

I’m actually happy I got this job. I think I’ll do okay there and everybody there seems really nice.

The circus

Like I’ve said before, I don’t want to complain about a good thing, but the one thing about my room is that after about 8 p.m. when it starts getting dark, it becomes a circus. Everybody is singing, yelling, coming in and out and playing cards.

I wouldn’t be so mad if they started quieting down after like 11 p.m., but they get louder. Sometimes people in my room stay awake until 2 or 3 in the morning. You would think that somebody else who is trying to sleep could say something, but no one ever does.

I would try to move rooms, but nothing is open right now and chances are, if another bed does open up, they’ll probably put a new person in it before they even read my request. So for the time being though, when my room gets too loud, I just borrow somebody’s radio and tune them out.

Ted has to be ON the bus at 6:50 a.m. to get to his new job. More on the new job coming soon.

Complainers

Ever since I’ve arrived here, for some reason I keep hearing other people say they don’t like it here. They keep talking about how the people who run this place just want to take our money. Well maybe so, but not all of it and still it’s only a small price to pay.

I don’t understand why a person would rather be back in prison with no money than here with a little bit of money. I know where I’d rather be and believe me, it’s not prison.

Here you can do things when you want or have the time, but in prison you do things when you’re told and how you’re told.

As for me, I’m not complaining. The COs (or Techs, as they’re called here) leave you alone and don’t yell. As long as you’re not doing anything wrong, you’ll never hear them and they’ll leave you alone. What more could a person still serving prison time ask for? This is the life.

The city bus

I’ve never ridden the bus more than three times in my whole life until I got here. Now I ride the bus every day to go look for jobs.

It feels so weird riding down the same streets I used to drive on every day. I have so many memories from so many places around here that I had forgotten about.

Every time I get on the bus and get close to my house, my heart starts racing and all I want to do is get off and walk to my house, but I can’t.

I can’t complain though. This place is 1,000 times better than prison. It doesn’t even feel like prison. It’s more like an extremely strict probation that only lets you go to and from work and nowhere else. Hey, I’m okay with that. Besides, I only have about four more months and that’s nothing.

Reasons to smile

Since I’ve gotten here, I’ve never felt better. I still can’t believe they let me leave by myself to go find a job.

Nobody yells at me here. I don’t have to eat that stuff that DOC calls food. I had almost forgotten what real food tasted like. They offer steak, chicken wings, cheese burgers, French fries, and all the condiments we want to use. Even barbeque sauce! We also get just about any kind of soda we want for free and if they don’t have what you want, there’s seven vending machines – four for sodas and three for snacks.

Then after dinner is over, they put a movie on the big screen TV [in the common room]. Also they have a long book shelf filled with some really good books. Just about any author you’d want. I’ve seen like 30 books I want to read. I’ll have to read one when I get some time.

It’s just now really starting to feel like I’m close to going home. I can’t wait.

Heaven!

After nearly a week, I finally received more blog entries from Ted.

Supposedly the work release center I’m at is the biggest one in Florida. (Don’t quote me on that.) It holds approximately 272 inmates. The whole compound is just a remodeled motel.

My room is one of the bigger rooms. It has 14 people, including me. My room is on the second floor and is made up of three motel rooms with the middle walls cut out. There is no carpeting. Instead the floor is just painted blue. The three bathrooms for the old rooms were left in and also remodeled with brand-new everything.

This place is like heaven compared to where I just was. All they want from me here is to keep a job. That shouldn’t be too hard.

There’re a couple people who sleep in my room that make some good money doing telemarketing. Even though it’s an aggravating job, it still pays better than others. Of course, that will be a last resort.

Ted got a job within a week and a half, but I’ll let him tell you about that.

Job hunt

Even though this place is like Paradise compared to prison, it’s still stressful looking for a job. I’ve only been here a week and they’re already acting like it’s my fault I don’t have a job. What makes it even harder is for my first week, I have to work in the kitchen 5 ½ hours a day, plus go find a job. It’s doable, but hard and tiring. Especially when you have to take the bus everywhere. I’m not used to it. I’ve never looked for a job so hard in my life. After this first week, it’ll be a little less tiring since I won’t have to work in the kitchen anymore. That’ll give me more time to find a job.

The best part of being near my house is that I know where everything is, so that’ll help me out a lot too. I won’t have to spend a lot of time looking up directions. A lot of people here aren’t from the same county. They can spend hours looking up directions.

Anyway, speaking of looking for a job, that’s where I’m going now. Wish me luck.

Residents at the Largo Residential Reentry Center

Ted thought he might be the youngest resident living at the Largo Residential Reentry Center. According to the Inmate Population Information Search, there are two residents who are younger. (Ted's 21st birthday will be on June 13, 2010. His release date is now in August due to accumulated gain time.)

The oldest resident of the Center was born in 1944.

To view the current residents at the Largo Residential Reentry Center, go to the Inmate Population Information Search site and on the lower right of the page, under Current Location, highlight "Largo Res. Re-entry C" and click on Submit Request.

Photo: The front entrance of the Largo Residential Reentry Center

More about the Largo Residential Reentry Center

The Largo Residential Reentry Center web site describes the program as a facility which serves nonviolent male offenders transitioning from Florida correctional facilities, assisting them with their re-entry into society.

Participants live at the Goodwill corrections facility in Largo for three to nine months while working at least 35 hours per week. Participants receive assistance finding employment and attend counseling sessions and life skills classes.

Ted’s name was on a sign-up sheet for a Substance Abuse class in the lobby. The only substance abuse classes that Ted ever attended were when he was 16 at PAR and at age 17 at Avon Park Youth Academy.

The sign on the front of the Center says Goodwill Industries-Suncoast, Inc. There is another Goodwill work release center on Gandy Blvd. in St. Petersburg. The Largo Center residents were taken to the St. Petersburg Center to purchase their used clothing items with their $20 vouchers. There is no thrift shop located at the Largo Center. Goodwill does have an Online Store with collectibles, clothing, electronics, jewelry and more.

According to the FL DOC site that lists Inmate Programs, the Largo Residential Re-entry Center does not have chaplain services. Ted thought that there might be transportation offered to a local church however.

Ted was called into the office last week for not attending GED classes. Ted told them he already had his GED and they apologized and removed him from the class list.

During our visitation today, Ted said the residents get excellent free meals – items such as pot roast, macaroni and cheese, and fish. He said the food is much better than the food in the prisons. There is a soda machine that offers lemonade, grape soda and more. In addition, residents can elect to buy deluxe food items such as strip steak, fried shrimp, and Oreo cookie cake. Ted informed me that he did not intend to use his job earnings to buy the deluxe food – the everyday free food items were quite good enough. I’m sure he’ll get the Oreo cake once in a while though!

Ted will be taken to get a Florida photo ID this week and he thinks he can start applying for jobs after he gets this ID. He was told that some businesses actually prefer to hire residents from the Largo Residential Reentry Center. The businesses know that the residents will be at their jobs on time and be there every day.

Photos: The Largo Residential Reentry Center. Behind the bike rack is the parking lot with the basketball hoop and picnic table. To the right of that lot is a large field with a track around it. Click photos to enlarge.

Largo Residential Reentry Center

I had my first visit with Ted today at the work release center. The name of the Center is the Largo Residential Reentry Center, but it’s actually in Clearwater.

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.