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SECOND AND THIRD CHANCES Lives crippled by crime and addiction can be saved, with help from private and state-run organizations devoted to helping people get back on their feet By Matt Amis Photos by Joe del Tufo
Thanks to the team at West End Neighborhood House, James Anderson has rebounded from 10 years in and out of trouble with the police and found full-time employment.
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henever James Anderson met a troubled soul at West End Neighborhood House or while roving the streets of Wilmington, he shared the wisdom that he’d worked so hard to earn: With time, perseverance, and a sturdy support system, anything is possible. No matter how dire the personal struggles, fresh starts and second chances are out there for those who seek them. “People say it’s impossible,” says Anderson. “I’m living proof that it isn’t.” Anderson, a 35-year-old from Kennett Square, Pa., spent the better part of 10 years in and out of trouble with the law, including a three-and-a-half-year stint in Chester County Prison on felony drug charges. Even after his release, his criminal history made finding a job exceedingly difficult. Eventually, he was referred to the West End Neighborhood House in Wilmington for its free Employment Training program. “I was there every day,” Anderson says. While he advanced through the various job preparedness workshops and training sessions, he also volunteered to help with some of West End’s projects and events. In 2012, after he earned his Customer Service Certification, West End’s director, Paul Calistro, offered him a part-time position as an outreach recruiter. “I was walking around the city, recruiting kids to sign up, trying to get them
to reap some of the benefits that I did,” Anderson says.” My main goal was to show them there was something different out there.” His story is not uncommon to many young people in and around Delaware. Anderson was raised by his grandparents in a predominantly black neighborhood in Kennett Square. Constance and Melvin Anderson provided for James and his two cousins as best they could, but James soon gave in to the allure of the streets and the fast money to be made in dealing drugs. By 14, Anderson began selling marijuana so that he could afford the things his grandparents couldn’t buy for him. Not long after graduating from Avon Grove High School, he says, “I decided there wasn’t enough money in that, and I turned to crack cocaine.” His brushes with the law escalated. At 27, he was charged with his first felony. Two years later, he was caught by Delaware police with an ounce of crack, and served six months at Sussex Correctional Institution’s “Boot Camp” program in Georgetown before being extradited to Pennsylvania for another 18 months in prison. From there, Anderson moved in with family members in New Castle, which turned out to be a bad idea. “There was no support system,” he says. “Almost right away I turned back to that lifestyle.” Just two months after his move, he violated his probation and was sentenced to the maximum jail time, plus more probation, extradition and house arrest. The experience humbled him. ► NOVEMBER 2014 | OUTANDABOUTNOW.COM
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