Minnesota prison resource fairs pave the way for what comes next

RUSH CITY — Micah Meline walked back into prison.

He wore a visitor badge on his shirt and a smile on his face, living proof of the power of second chances.

"Society told me, 'You're a drug addict. You're a criminal. You'll never change,'" said Meline, who struggled with addiction when he was younger and made dangerous choices that landed him in jail cells, then prison cells. "I realized those are lies. I can change. I am changing. And I won't be the same person that I was before."

The Minnesota Department of Corrections hosted a transitions fair at its Rush City facility on Thursday — connecting incarcerated men nearing the end of their sentences with state agencies, nonprofits and employers who could keep them moving forward when they leave prison, not back.

Meline, now six years sober, sat in the prison gymnasium at a table piled high with pamphlets about the substance abuse treatment and residential programs at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, where he got help and now works as an outreach representative.

The gymnasium was crowded with similar tables, offering information about housing, employment and health care — because 96% of the people incarcerated in state prisons will come home one day. State prisons used to hold these resource fairs regularly, but this was the first at Rush City since the pandemic.

Most of the men who attended will leave the correctional facility within the next 15 months. Most, but not all.

Deaunteze Bobo and Jermaine Ferguson are serving life sentences. But they were there, moving from table to table, collecting folders and pamphlets and information to share with others.

"Tools in my belt," Bobo said. The two friends have worked for years to help their peers return to life outside these walls. Those who don't show up at the transition fair might get a nudge from these two and a stack of pamphlets about all the help available out there — help finding work, housing, counseling, health care.

"That's one of the things that just naturally feels good — to help people to be better, to put them in a better position," said Bobo, who was 18 years old when he was convicted of aiding and abetting a fatal drive-by shooting. That was 17 years ago. He will be eligible for parole in 2036. "I'm into building my community."

This is their 15th transitions fair at Rush City, helping others move on, year after year, as they remain.

"I feel like it's my responsibility, regardless of my wrongful conviction, to rebuild my community," Ferguson said. "Some of these guys are going back to communities that they came from and they don't have the tools."

All the information and resources in the world won't help someone who isn't ready to listen or reach out for help. Ferguson and Bobo hope the young men on their way to a second chance will listen to them.

"All my life I think I was given information, I was given positive tools, but I never knew how to use them," Ferguson said. "It was coming to prison and learning how to use these tools properly that changed my outlook in life. So now I'm giving back to my community."

But while they appeal their life sentences, they search for ways to give their lives meaning.

"I do this for myself," Ferguson said. Eighteen years of incarceration has given him time for reflection and time to figure out what he sees as his purpose in life. "My purpose is to help people," he said. "It makes me feel good. It makes me happy."

Meline was slow to accept help when he left prison. But eventually, he found treatment that worked for him and people who cared. And last Thursday in Rush City, he found a friend he'd known from his time inside who will be up for parole in January.

"We can change our lives, bro," he said, describing the reunion. "I thought [prison] was going to be my life. I was OK with that. … Now I see something totally different."