ST. LOUIS — A recent awards program by Mission: St. Louis presented awards to people who’ve turned around their lives. Among the awardees, Stephanie Gooch.
“Continuing to stay positive, that was a challenge in itself,” said Gooch. “So I’m glad I was honored for that.”
While saving money for nursing school, plans for Gooch’s dream job got derailed.
“I saved $1700 for my nursing graduate education. I have a cousin that’s a heroin addict and he stole all of my money and I didn’t handle it in the right way,” said Gooch. “I’ll be the first to admit that.”
In a fit of anger, Gooch went to her cousin’s home and threw paint on his car. What followed was a property damage conviction and incarceration.
“The sentence was what they call shock treatment, so I did four months,” said Gooch.
During her fourth month stay at the St. Louis County Jail, Gooch met James Ingram, a re-entry and employment specialist for the Community Action Agency of St. Louis County (CAASLC).
“Stephanie was determined, A, to get out, B, to be successful, and she stated over and over again, ‘This is not me,’” said Ingram.
Ingram teaches prisoner reentry classes called “Makin’ It Work”. It’s part of the CAASLC curriculum to reduce the recidivism rate in Missouri. The program deals with issues ranging from anger management and drug counseling to employment readiness and counseling services. Ingram said Missouri Department of Corrections released 20, 547 offenders in 2017, with about one-third of the rearrested and sent back to prison.
”I have an entire curriculum that I designed here internally,” said Ingram. “I think the main thing they need to hear is that we’re here to help them.”
Gooch credits Ingram for helping her after her release.
“Mr. Ingram, through Community Action St. Louis, he’s been a saint. And like an angel,” said Gooch. “He set me up with anger management. I took his class while I was in St. Louis County (jail), and the skies the limit since then.”
Ingram also connected Gooch to a temp company People Ready, what she calls a “felon friendly” employer.
“I was able to find an employer that taught me demolition skills and carpentry and things like that and I’m so excited about that,” said Gooch.
Ingram said community members who believe recidivism doesn’t affect them are wrong.
“They need to care because about 90 percent of everybody who’s incarcerated is going to eventually get out,” said Ingram. “I don’t want to be carjacked. You don’t want to be carjacked. You don’t want to be robbed. But if a person is desperate and they come out and they find themselves not having opportunities, they’re going back to their comfort zone, go back to what they know, which is some criminal activity. We should want them to be successful so that they pay taxes. It’s better that they pay taxes than we pay for them to be incarcerated.”
Gooch said she has a second chance and wants to encourage other ex-offenders.
“Open a phone book, go online, see what resources they have for convicted felons, try to get gainful employment, learn a new skill,” said Gooch. “There’s life after incarceration. And you can still be an asset to your community and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t.”
