FINDING THE NEXT LEVEL LIFE IN

PROGRAM PREPARES PRISONERS TO GO TO COLLEGE

A Southern s students across

Nevada settled into dorms and classrooms last week, 20 inmates filed inside a cell at the Clark County Detention Center for their own college orientation.

“We’re not looking for those people who … know once they get back out in the streets they’ll get right back into the life,” Jon Ponder said, his voice booming past rows of men in matching blue scrubs. “Don’t step up here and give us a black eye for those of us who really, seriously, truly want to get to the next level in life.”

Some aspire to be mechanics when their sentences are up. Others dream of traveling the country as professional truck drivers. Many just want a steady job in hopes of reuniting with estranged wives and children.

Whatever path they choose, the local nonprofit organization Hope for Prisoners plans to steer them toward the College of Southern Nevada to pursue a better education. Through a new partnership that launched this week, both groups aim to help qualifying applicants reclaim their lives after jail.

“I want to prove I can change,”

said Michael Sanford, 30, who worked at an airbrush painting studio before he was put behind bars in July. “I want to open my own tattoo business. I’m an exceptional artist.”

Sanford, whose four-month sentence stems from a domestic violence charge, hopes to get a college degree or vocational certificate. Officials hope he gets one, too — the more educated inmates are, the less likely they are to offend again. According to a 2013 study by the Rand Corporation, a Santa Monica, California-based think tank, inmates who participate in correctional education programs have 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not.

Since Ponder founded Hope for Prisoners in 2009, the program has helped about 1,600 inmates after leaving jail and prison. The group’s new partnership with CSN puts inmates in direct contact with college officials striving to help them land jobs.

At Friday’s orientation, Ponder and CSN officials introduced a group of screened inmates to the budding program, which will allow the men to get help from mentors and guidance from college officials as they prepare to restart their lives.

“You’re going to be employable,” Melissa Schroeder, who oversees workforce development at CSN, told the group. “You’re going to have those skills that you need to be successful in the workplace, and we’re excited to make that happen for you.”

JEFF SCHEID/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL FOLLOW @JEFFSCHEID Jon Ponder, founder and CEO of Hope for Prisoners, speaks to inmates about the re-entry program at Clark County Detention Center on Friday.

Inmates at Clark County Detention Center listen Friday to officials about a program to provide education opportunities with College of Southern Nevada. CSN and Hope for Prisoners are teaming up to provide classes for inmates while incarcerated.

JEFF SCHEID/LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL FOLLOW @JEFFSCHEID Jon Ponder, founder and CEO of Hope for Prisoners, shakes hands with an inmate Friday at Clark County Detention Center. College of Southern Nevada and Hope for Prisoners are teaming up to provide classes to inmates while incarcerated.