Steven Rice, the workforce development director of Code Tenderloin, an organization focused on free programming, community outreach, removing barriers for vulnerable communities, and people living below the poverty line, visited San Quentin.
The organization discussed job readiness, integrative community-level health work, financial literacy resources, transitional housing partnerships, technology and entrepreneur development, and AI opportunities with residents in Chapel B.
Rice, a formerly-incarcerated native of Southern California’s San Fernando Valley, paroled from CTF-Soledad four years ago after serving 34 years. “However, I ain’t free, until we’re all free,” Rice said to the 35 residents in attendance. To this sentiment, the room erupted in applause.
Rice encouraged residents to stay committed to their rehabilitation, education, and programming. From his vantage point, prisons today, especially San Quentin, can provide a multitude of educational experiences.
Rice said his involvement with Code Tenderloin while incarcerated was pivotal in changing the narrative in his life, giving him something to believe in and propelling him forward.
“The best decision I ever made was getting involved with Code Tenderloin,” Rice said.
Rice went on to describe the organization’s mandatory classes designed to support participants in their transition from incarceration to freedom. The Job Readiness Program assists with soft skills, résumé writing, and interview presentation. The Community Health Worker program engages individuals in community-level health services and treatment. Rice heads both of these courses.
Once the classes are completed, individuals gain access to every job in Code Tenderloin’s employment network.
Rice said everybody has a “secret sauce,” meaning that what works for one person’s professional development may not work for another. He reflected that some people have a very specific career path in mind, and noted that Code Tenderloin launched an Entrepreneur Development Program to assist these individuals achieve their dreams.
Rice addressed concerns about transportation for those who plan to come to Code Tenderloin, sharing that the company provides Bay Area Rapid Transit cards and Uber rides. The resources, however, don’t end there.
“Transitional housing, I got connection there too. I am personally in and out of the Dream Center on the regular and we’re [Code Tenderloin] right across the street from GEO (a reentry services corporation that provides residential, shelter care, and community-based rehabilitative educational programs for parolees). People in there see my face daily,” he said.
Removing barriers like transportation, Rice said, will help enable him to continue to do this work in the most impactful way.
“Just show up,” he told residents. “I’ll do the rest.”