Being homeless is a violation of parole
Remember Gary, the brother who was forced to attend church by his halfway house?
We were going to send you a final “success” update about him: he found housing, bought a car, started teaching at Tayba and at a local masjid… until a few days ago.
When Gary’s new landlord found out about his incarceration, he forced him to leave. Gary had to spend the night in his car.
There’s a complication: in Gary’s state, being homeless is a violation of parole for which you’re sent back to prison. Go figure.
So we had to act fast to help him, but we stumbled on several obstacles on the way:
An affordable extended stay hotel was really close by, but across the county line, requiring Gary to request a parole transfer there (a complicated process)
There were few affordable housing options that would also be willing to rent to someone like Gary. The few leads from craigslist turned out to be scams.
Our team worked around the clock to find options and settled on getting Gary an RV. The masjid where he teaches agreed to let him park on their premises.
Alhamdulillah, after going through many listings, we found a viable RV for $5,000. It turned out to be a legitimate listing and we hope Gary will be able to purchase it soon, insha’Allah. Tayba advanced his pay in order to help him afford it.
Helping the incarcerated with re-entry isn’t as simple as just sending them money
Insha’Allah Gary will once again have a place to live and won’t have to worry about being sent back behind bars.
But his case is an example of just how much work goes into helping a former prison adjust to life in free society. It’s not as simple as just paying their rent. There’s an entire system working against them.
Problems like this arise all the time and it takes a team - often working at odd hours and around the clock - to resolve them. And Gary is far from the only person we’re supporting in re-entry.
That’s why your support is critical to ensuring that Muslims in free society (and behind bars) get the resources they need to thrive.
