NJ.com
By Myles Ma
Luis P. had spent eight months in Bergen County Jail, but he was in trouble again.
Since getting out he had spent time in Bergen Regional Medical Center and been thrown out of a recovery house in Pennsylvania, the latest in a string of drinking and drug related fiascoes.
After that, the Lyndhurst resident, who declined to give his last name, found a semblance of stability. His parents took him in and he was regularly attending meetings for his drinking and drug addictions.
But Luis, who had worked as a plumber, was still without a job and was having difficulty keeping up with his child support payments. So, as he had done in the past when he was in trouble, he called Bonnie O’Brien.
He first met O’Brien, the director of Transition Professionals, while in the Drug Recovery Center at the jail. O’Brien visits the center every Tuesday to help inmates figure out what they plan to do when they get out.
O’Brien, a Paramus resident, has been helping inmates since the 1990s, but in 2014 she founded Transition Professionals, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing recidivism that serves as a one-stop shop for people just getting out of jail.
“People think if you’re in jail, if you made a mistake, you’re a criminal for life.”
There was no one-stop organization covering all the various needs of people just getting out, O’Brien said. Transition Professionals helps recent inmates find shelter, replace identification, enroll in health care, food distribution programs and other government aid.
O’Brien, who owned a staffing service, also helps recent inmates get jobs. She first came to the jail in the 1990s when she was invited to speak to inmates about how to find work.
She had been involved with the Girls Scouts and March of Dimes, but had never encountered a charity dedicated to helping former offenders.
“I think ex-offenders have a stigma,” O’Brien said. “People think if you’re in jail, if you made a mistake, you’re a criminal for life.”
O’Brien has had no trouble attracting help. Mercedez Walker, a recent Fairleigh Dickinson graduate, had hoped to intern at the jail, but was instead referred to O’Brien, becoming case manager for Transition Professionals.
“When I came over and met Bonnie, I knew this was the place to be,” she said.
John Urchak had spent a few years out of jail but had trouble finding volunteer opportunities to help fellow ex-offenders. He met O’Brien by chance and, with the young non-profit moving into a new building, asked him to be facilities manager.
“I couldn’t say no because every time I came into the office she would have another person in there that was down on their luck,” he said.
A month ago, Luis was one of them. It wasn’t the first time he had called O’Brien.
A few months earlier she had pointed him to a rehabilitation center in Marlboro Township. But with his child support payments due, “I really knew I was at the end of the road,” Luis said.
Luis spent hours in her office, writing a letter he credits with getting a judge to reduce his payments and sending his resume to a few employers. He got a call for an interview almost immediately.
He’s been working as a plumber for about a month now and is regularly seeing his children and ex-wife. Three months prior he was shuttling from the jail to the homeless shelter to rehabilitation clinics.
“Where I was 90 days ago to where I am today I still can’t believe it,” he said. “And most of it I definitely have to credit Bonnie.”
Patrick Hughes, director of behavioral healthcare at the Bergen County Jail, said Transition Professionals was a “perfect complement” to the jail’s drug treatment and mental health programs.
“Transition Professionals is helpful in that they help bridge that gap from inside the jail and back into the community,” he said.
Not everyone is a success story. According to the state Office of Transitional Services, more than half of the offenders released from prison in 2009 were arrested again, and almost a third ended up back in prison.
Some ex-offenders can’t keep up with the fines they must pay, and some addicts struggle to quit, O’Brien said. But O’Brien is relentless with the people she helps.
“When I first met her in the (Drug Recovery Center), it was confusing to me because you almost think, ‘Yeah right, this lady’s really going to do this shit for us?'” said James, who got out of jail just before Christmas. “All of a sudden you get out and you can’t even escape from her. She almost hunts you down and makes sure you’re doing the right thing. She don’t mess around. Us addicts, we need somebody that don’t mess around. Somebody you can’t manipulate. It’s hard to believe how serious she is. She doesn’t let you fail.”
O’Brien and the rest of the Transition Professionals staff are volunteers. The hours they spend, the clothes they give former inmates, the furniture in their Passaic Street office, are donated.
“We don’t get paid for this,” Walker, the case manager, said. “We enjoy what we do. It’s pure heart into it.”
O’Brien hopes Transition Professionals can eventually secure funding through grants. She’s looking for a good grant writer. They’d need to volunteer like everyone else.
“I think we need to exist because there’s a reason,” she said. “There’s always going to be people in jail. People are always going to make mistakes. But after they’re punished there is a road to redemption and they can lead sustainable lives.”