Four years ago the Carroll County NAACP conceived a program that would help parolees live a successful life outside of prison. With hundreds of success stories on record, the little-known program is now ready to unveil itself to the community.

On Saturday, the first annual “Another Chance” gala at the University of West Georgia Campus Center Ballroom will feature fine dining, a silent auction, and the stories of rehabilitated inmates. Proceeds will benefit the Carroll County NAACP Re-Entry Services program. The service is not for profit and works in conjunction with local businesses, Carroll County, the city of Carrollton and other local stakeholders.

Derrick Schofield, deputy commissioner for the Georgia Department of Corrections, will be the keynote speaker, and a silent auction will feature a flat-screen TV, a laptop and other items. The event will also entertain patrons with music and dancing, and a portion of proceeds will go toward Carroll County flood relief.

“The Department of Corrections’ core mission is ensuring public safety,” said Schofield. “We believe public safety extends to ensuring offenders are rehabilitated and re-enter society better prepared to live a life free of crime.”

Most parolees and probationers return to prison not because they commit major crimes, but because they fail to perform other post-prison obligations, according to NAACP research. The average cost of housing a prisoner for a year is more than $17,000, and building a new prison costs between $60,000-$200,000 per bed, but the cost for running a re-entry program is relatively low at $645 per client.

Since its founding, Carroll County NAACP Re-Entry Services has helped 362 clients, only 6 percent of whom have returned to jail, well below the 66 percent state average. The Carroll County branch was the first of its kind in Georgia, and due to its success there are now re-entry offices in Savannah and Camden County with plans for many more, according to Robert Jackson, director of Carroll County NAACP Re-Entry Services.

“We tell them to take action, take control of their life, don’t sit around waiting for someone to do something for you, you do it,” said Jackson.

Serving as a go-between for recently released prisoners and government or community contacts is the organization’s primary goal.

“What this program does is address the needs of the people coming in out of prison back into the communities or back out of the jails, people that are on probation or parole, people that are coming out of transitional houses, people that are coming back to the area,” said Jackson.

The Carroll County office serves Carroll, Meriwether, Heard, Coweta, Douglas and Paulding counties.

“Some of these people have been gone a year, some have been gone 20 years,” said Jackson. “In our ever-changing society, being out of the mix of things for five years or better makes you almost comatose and oblivious to what’s going on.”

Jackson said that the everyday red tape that most Americans go through can be daunting for a person getting out of prison, especially when it comes to getting a job. Former inmates must pay probation and parole fees, in addition to child support payments. Without steady employment, they can quickly find themselves back in jail for failure to pay. Re-entry service personnel can act as a buffer between the client and their employer, probation officer, or child support judge to ensure that a person isn’t thrown in prison because of circumstances beyond their control.

“Some of those people cannot communicate effectively; they don’t know what to say, or how to say it,” said Jackson. “It’s like a baby, teaching them to walk.”

Carroll County NAACP Re-Entry Services also has a 24-hour hotline that clients can call if they need advice on how to overcome a difficult situation.

“That crucial hour in the night when you got nobody you can turn to that you can talk to and you’re going to make a dumb mistake, they have that number they can call whenever,” said Jackson.

Sex offenders are the most difficult group to work with, because of the housing restrictions in place.

“[Sex offenders are] a major issue right now because of the unemployment and because of the housing, trying to find housing for guys and ladies with sex offenses, because they cannot live less than 1,000 feet from schools, churches, playgrounds, anywhere there are children,” said Jackson.

In communities with a wide dispersal of schools, churches, etc., finding a place to live a reasonable distance away from a job can be nearly impossible for someone with a sexual offense on their record, a situation that could result in them being delinquent in their obligations and going back to prison.

Jackson often tries to get clients who have diplomas or GEDs to enroll in a university or trade school. When a parolee expresses a desire to return to school, Jackson said that the simple act of picking up the phone and calling in a favor in front of the client can be a powerful and moving experience for someone who has experienced little kindness in their life.

“People talk, but how much do you do for them? Do you go the extra mile? We do extra things for these guys and ladies,” said Jackson. “We get on the phone for them, we call West Georgia Tech, we say ‘hey, we got a guy or a lady here we want to get them in school as soon as possible.’ We move and take action, and show them what we’re talking about.”

Assistant Director Narva Farris has been with the Carroll County NAACP since 1965.

“We started doing the research and started finding out why folks were going back to prison, and we discovered the reason wasn’t that they were committing crimes, but that they had obligations they couldn’t keep,” said Farris. “Our argument is why send a person back to jail when he’s got a job, when he’s just going to lose his job when he goes to jail?”

Tickets to the gala are $50 for adults and $25 for college students. Sponsorships are available from $100 to $2,000 for individuals and businesses. For more information, contact Carroll County NAACP Re-Entry Services at 770-834-6025.