My father works to get people back into the job market from however they fell out of it: Prison, homelessness, mental illness, drug abuse, bad luck–you name it.
It’s easier when clients are committed to being done with living outside the system, he would say. But he would complain to me privately, “How am I supposed to help people get on their feet if they can’t read? That’s a hard sell to employers.”
Many prisoners can’t read and write, so I decided to volunteer at a nearby prison. My family did some prison church work when I was small, and we had a social circle that included ex-felons. Because of that, prison work does not alarm me the way it does some people. Math and reading are things I know well, so it seemed a good fit.
While tutoring with Free to Succeed, a G.E.D. program held at San Quentin, I met an inmate tutor named Del Banjo. Banjo mentioned a self-help program that he and others were developing. It would be an Inmate Leisure Time Activity Group (ILTAG) named Members of a Modern American Society (MOMAS).
MOMAS would focus on financial literacy with the aim of preparing inmates to reenter society with life skills. It was also intended to reduce recidivism. The group was modeled after adult education classes, and taught by professionals in those fields.
The group needed volunteer teachers with professional credentials. It didn’t take much convincing, after a couple of meetings I realized that I could put my financial planning skills to practical use inside San Quentin.
MOMAS hopes to level the playing field. I am not exaggerating when I say that a graduate, if he applies himself to learn everything in the lectures and books, will end up significantly more knowledgeable than most middle-class Americans.
He will be too sophisticated to be intimidated by banks, taxes, investing or financial jargon. He will also be less susceptible to the scams of predators outside the mainstream financial system. Nor will he be intimidated by job interviews. Through hard work and focus, he will come to know that his current work and life experience are already valuable to both the job market and in opening a business of his own.
I support MOMAS for the good of each individual inmate, as well as society as a whole. Knowledge and training promotes public safety. I strongly believe that what’s good for one is good for the other. The class of society that is “ex-felon” is large and getting larger. The more this class consists of Members of Modern American Society, especially financially, the bigger and more persuasive this class’ voice will be, and society will be better for its perspective.
