One Year Out: “Your body is free, but your mind is still somewhat confined.”

In prison, I struck a really good balance. I meditated. I prayed. I did low-impact yoga. I was real serene. I was released in September 2015 and, before I could go home, went to a halfway house for eight weeks. Those eight weeks almost wiped out 10 years of serenity. It’s supposed to help you prepare for reentry — but the energy in there was frenetic crazy.

When you first come home, it’s overwhelming — especially because of the tech gap that we experience being separated from society for so long. In the prisons, it’s like cave-man style. Now, when you go into the restrooms, the toilets flush themselves. I had to relearn the way you have to get soap or a paper towel. I went to a cafe, and people were ordering food on a screen. I had to stand around and watch for a while, see what they were doing. I felt so stupid for not knowing how to go in and order eggs and bacon and a piece of toast.

Your body is free, but your mind is still somewhat confined. It took me awhile to feel comfortable enough to drive. As a returning citizen, you always feel a sense of trepidation that the police are going to stop you. One little slip-up and you’re back incarcerated. You have to get used to the fact that you’re your own person again, that nobody’s coming to grab you.

I now have 10 years supervised release. But I found out in our area, Youngstown, Ohio, we have something called the STAR reentry program. They help you get your license, get into school and find employment. If I do everything I’m supposed to do, then I get a year of non-reporting probation. If I get through that year without getting into trouble, the rest of my supervised release — eight years — is forgiven. I’m nine months in.

I plan on going back to school to get a degree in urban planning and development. I started getting involved with different community organizations. I’m on a board for the Mahoning County Land Bank, which acquires abandoned properties here in Youngstown. They’re going to have houses rehabbed for returning citizens when they get out of prison.

I’m also working on something called the New Freedom Project, something a group of us started in prison. We formed a brain trust. We had a bent toward criminal justice reform. All of us were really huge book readers. We started developing classes, courses, workshops, seminars, curriculum — everything you need for a top-notch reentry program. We want to start it here and grow it.

— As told to Danielle Paquette