‘I don’t ever give up’

After a major run-in with the law, Eugene Evans Jr., 59, kept a low profile as a telemarketer in New Brunswick, NJ. However, the re-location of the company rendered Evans unemployed, causing him to break probation and subsequently be incarcerated in Middlesex County Jail.

Taylor Davis: Where are you from originally?

Eugene Evans, Jr.: I was born and raised in New Jersey. I grew up in Roselle Park and I lived in Livingston.

TD: Can you tell me a bit about what your childhood and adolescence was like?

EE: It was pretty uneventful. I went to Seton Hall Prep. I commuted from Roselle Park to Seton Hall.I really didn’t have much time for extracurricular activities. I finished 27 out of a class of 300. And then I applied to Seton Hall University.

My childhood … do you want the good or the bad? I can tell you it was good. I did get every material thing I wanted, but my parents were not exactly the best. My mother, I’d say her love was conditional. My father was a tyrant. He was a Korean war vet, and the highest grade he had was eighth grade. I’m the oldest of five. And I pretty much ran the house a lot because when my father was not there I was the go-to guy. I was born and then I became an adult.

TD: You mentioned previously to me that you became a physician in Mexico. Can you please recount that story for me.

EE: Sure, not a problem. Basically, I had decided that I wanted to be a physician and no one was going to tell me no. So, I wasn’t even accepted into the program. … I got on a 747 and we landed in Mexico City. I dragged all my luggage to a gate that was going to put me in Tampico, Mexico.

I went for my admissions process. I was interviewed and I was accepted right there on the spot. It’s called Universidad del Noreste.

TD: How much time did you spend there?

EE: Well, medical school is four years, but I did two down there. And the other two years I was working in Chicago as a medical student. I did not know any Spanish at all. Not a word. But I love languages. After about three months, I realized that God has given me a rare gift. And I picked up the language.

TD: After you finished your medical degree, did you come back to New Jersey?

EE: Yes. What happened was I went to a school in Mexico. They have a program, I don’t even know if it’s in existence any longer, called the Fifth Pathway. And basically, it’s your third year of medical school all over again, but you’re being supervised in a medical school. I thought that was a good thing and it would make me more marketable. After that I spent the next five years in Staten Island. I did my Fifth Pathway at a hospital that’s no longer open: St. Vincent’s of Staten Island.

They wanted me to be the chief resident there, but I wanted to go to Virginia. I spent a couple years down there, and came back. First, I did the emergency room as level one trauma in New York City. Two years of ER medicine, two years of private practice. It was in 1997 that my son was born. And that’s when I was in New Jersey.

TD: Can you explain the reason why you spent time at Middlesex County Jail, and tell me how much time you spent there?

EE: Well, I spent two months in the Middlesex County Jail. And the reason is I’m in a program called ISP (Intensive Supervision Program). [Editor’s note: Evans would not specify what had occurred previously that lead to him being involve in the ISP program.] This particular program is basically probation on steroids. It’s very, very strict. They require you work and give them 20 percent of your check [for court-imposed penalties], go for random urine and drug screens whenever they want, and you’re supposed to meet with them every Tuesday.

I was working as a telemarketer here in New Brunswick, and the telemarketing firm just decided that they were going to go to Woodbridge. They told me about two or three weeks before. And I wasn’t making a lot of money. Child support was being taken out of my check. And it was close to $10 round trip.

I lost my job, couldn’t pay the rent, and the the violation for ISP was that I basically didn’t have a place to stay. They threw me into the Middlesex County Jail. I was there from November 16, 2017 to January 24, 2018.

TD: I just want to clarify really quickly. You were placed in jail because you didn’t have a place to stay?

EE: Yes.

TD: Because you were homeless?

EE: Yes. That’s the only reason.

TD: When you came out were you able to find a place of residence?

EE: When I came out, after two months, they put me in a place called the Damon House. Now, the Damon House is a therapeutic community. It was a nightmare. It was run worse than a bootcamp. They wouldn’t give me my psych meds. Also, the doctors didn’t feel that I needed to be there. So they put me back where I am right now. And they’re footing the bill until I find a job and a place.

TD: While you were in Middlesex County Jail, as a physician, what did you notice that didn’t sit well with you?

EE: Oh, there’s a lot. First thing — anyone who is arrested and on drugs. If they’re withdrawing, they just throw you in a room and let you withdraw. You have to kick heroin by yourself. You have to get off all these medicines. They don’t give them fluids for hydration or anything. Myself, I was taking psych meds for depression and anxiety. Partly brought on by this whole incarceration thing. And they were messing around with my medication.

TD: What was the most stressful part about re-entry into society for you, and how did that impact your health?

EE: When I got out, I was in the ISP program. They did not help you at all find a job, did not help you re-acclimate. They just said get a job and pay us 20 percent.

TD: What has helped you through re-entry? What has been your source of strength?

EE: I think it’s my attitude. I don’t ever give up. The main thing that is getting me through this is my relation with my God.