Charles Townsend’s journey started and ended at San Quentin

Rehabilitative determination was epitomized in Charles Townsend. The day after he arrived at San Quentin in early 2018, he walked into the San Quentin newsroom and asked for a copy of the news article he had read about the prison’s machine shop vocation.

Juan Haines — senior editor at the time — found the news article for Townsend, printed a copy, and gave it to him. “Thanks,” said Townsend, and so began his rehabilitation journey.

“Even though everyone told me it was going to take one-to-two years to get in [the machine shop], I was blessed and got in in two months,” said Townsend. “That was because I bugged Mr. Wheeless,” the shop principal.

Convicted of robbery and sentenced to 16 years and 4 months, Townsend was initially sent to San Quentin’s reception center, where he became aware of its church program. He was quickly transferred to Ironwood State Prison and California State Prison Delano.

“Right before I left [San Quentin], that’s when the porters handed me San Quentin News,” said Townsend. “The paper was about two or three months old, but it changed the trajectory of my whole term, because of the story about the Computer Numeric Control machine shop.”

Townsend did not spend much time at those first two prisons. “When my [classification] points dropped, I specifically chose San Quentin for the CNC program, and Mother Jackson at the church,” he said, referring to the pastor at the time. “Those were the two deciding factors.”

In 2019, Townsend graduated from machine shop vocation. “It will allow me to go to any machine shop and get an entry-level position,” he said, adding he did not enroll just for the certificate, but to truly learn the craft. “With the certificate, I became the teaching assistant.”

Rehabilitation for Townsend did not end with his vocational trade. “I was supposed to start Mt. Tamalpais College in the spring of 2020, but COVID-19 hit,” he said. “The worst thing about COVID was I thought it stopped my progress. But during that time there was a growth in [my] resiliency. It made me more determined and more focused, and it gave me a chance to apply all those coping tools that I learned in my groups.”

At San Quentin, Townsend enrolled in self-help groups such as No More Tears and TRUST, where he became a facilitator. “I’m in California Re-entry Institute right now,” he said.

“I wasn’t able to officially start [MTC] until spring of 2021,” said Townsend. Staying focused, he graduated in the fall of 2024 with an Associate of Arts degree. Although he had not initially planned to further his education after graduating from MTC, Townsend plans to explore which university will best suit his educational needs through Project Rebound.

“I realized the only person in my way was me,” said Townsend. “This experience has taught me that I’m in control of my success; not the situation, not events, and not the things that have happened to me, but how I prevail and get through them.”

Townsend thought back to a pivotal moment during his incarceration in the Los Angeles county jail. While there, he reflected on where he was in life, and where he wanted to be. “I always wanted to be a good father who was there to support and nurture my kids,” he said. “But I was incarcerated, and looking at two life sentences.”

“I’m a much better person because of this experience,” said Townsend. He said he could not imagine being out in the streets, getting away with crime, and still being able to set a good example for his family.

In May 2025, Townsend paroled to a male community re-entry program in southern California to finish his term and parole. He is looking forward to rebuilding relationships with his son and daughter, and working on his marriage, to be a better father, friend, husband, and community member. 

Editor’s note: I was in the newsroom with Juan Haines when Charles Townsend arrived and asked about the machine shop article. He was on a mission and never wavered in his resolve to be a better person. “I got a plan,” he said to me some years later. There was no foolishness about him, and I recall often seeing him with books in tow. I told him if he followed through with his plan I want to write the story. He did it with rehabilitation. Good luck, Charles!