(click HERE to see the article in the New Haven Bulletin)
by Beth Stauffer
It’s a commonly held belief that once a person gets a felony conviction on their record, they will never be able to get a job.
Ever.
I know I heard this as little girl growing up in rural Northern Indiana in the early 1990’s, and 370 miles away in urban St. Louis, Missouri, a little boy I had never met by the name of Tony Gordon was hearing the exact same thing.
“Ever since I was a kid in St. Louis growing up, I always heard everyone saying, ‘I got a felony, I can’t get no job!’” the now 29 year old Gordon told me in an interview on Friday, September 20th, 2013.
Needless to say, when he was released from serving a 6 month sentence in the Allen County Jail for dealing crack cocaine, he admits his first thought was, “Now how am I going to get a job with a felony on my record?”
Gordon, an affable and well-spoken young man, says that the terms of his sentence included not just his incarceration at the Allen County correctional facility, but 6 months house arrest and successful completion of the Blue Jacket, Inc. Career Academy training program.
“My first thought about Blue Jacket was that it would be a waste of time,” said Gordon with a sheepish smile. “But, I had been wondering how I was going to get a job with a felony on my record. I learned that’s exactly what Blue Jacket does. It helps you deal with the past so you can leave the past in the past and get hope for your future.”
Gordon is painfully honest about the mistakes and hardships that ultimately led him to the new beginning he found at Blue Jacket; his story is at times heartbreaking and redemptive, compelling and inspirational.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Gordon grew up in an area of sprawling urban decay, in a neighborhood where drugs and violence were commonplace. “Living in St. Louis, it was a rough place,” said Gordon of his hometown. “The neighborhoods we were living in were really rough. All of my neighbors and peers were dealing drugs and that sort of thing, and so I did, too.”
At the time, Gordon was just 14 years old.
Gordon can recall his aspirations to deal drugs beginning as young as 10 years old. His beloved uncle was a well-know, big time drug dealer in the St. Louis area. While dealing is now, according to Gordon, “thankfully in his uncle’s past,” at the time he wanted nothing more than to be like his Uncle Kevin when he grew up.
“I kind of always looked up to him, because as a kid, he was the one that was spoiling me with money. I wanted to be like him,” remembers Gordon softly. “I remember when I was maybe 10 years old, I was chopping down the Crayola chalk like crack rocks to be like my Uncle Kevin. I got into some trouble for that,” added Gordon.
When Gordon’s grandfather, Evester Gordon, Sr. transferred to Fort Wayne in 1993 to work at the General Motors truck plant, Gordon’s mother decided to follow suit shortly after. As a freshman, Gordon struggled with his grades and an expulsion, and later bounced from Homestead to Wayne to Northside due to the family’s living arrangements.
He dropped out his senior year, and that’s when the trouble really began.
Down on his luck, Gordon saw his friends having a modicum of success dabbling in drug dealing and thought, “Hey, I can do this, too,” he said. Gordon said he was beginning to have a nice run of things when he made the mistake of buying a gun for protection.
“I ended up getting caught with just the gun, and I was incarcerated on a misdemeanor for six months,” said Gordon.
When he was released, Gordon fell ill and needed open heart surgery, suffered a small stroke, temporarily lost his vision, and had massive blood clots throughout his body. Denied for disability and too ill to work a routine job, Gordon went back to the only thing he knew: dealing.
Of course, he was caught again and this time, he was charged with a felony for dealing crack cocaine. In a surprising twist, however, just when Gordon thought his life was over, he was about to learn his life was only just getting started with a little help from his new friends at Blue Jacket.
“Once I came to Blue Jacket, it was a big change,” said Gordon with his bright, hopeful smile. “Blue Jacket gave me hope again. I can get another job. This isn’t the end of my life.”
Gordon credits the life skills Blue Jacket taught him with helping him find his way to a productive career with the Insul-Coustic Corporation in the former International Harvester complex on south Coliseum Boulevard. For the last two years, Gordon has worked for the company making parts for John Deere, Caterpillar, and other premier corporations. Gordon was placed at Southeast Allen County’s Insul-Coustic Corporation through Opportunity Staffing, Blue Jacket’s in-house staffing agency that is responsible for placing graduates with employers and providing risk management services for employers. By fronting the first six month’s payroll for the placed graduates, employers can hire recent graduates like Gordon with confidence; once the new employee has completed six months on the job, the employer then reimburses Opportunity Staffing for the initial payroll costs, resulting in win-win-win outcomes for the graduate, the employer, and the community.
“At Blue Jacket, they teach you how to earn the trust of the community back. They teach you how to properly fill out job applications and how to conduct yourself in an interview,” said Gordon of the 4 week Blue Jacket Career Academy. “I learned that when you shake someone’s hand or look them in the eye, it has a certain meaning. Blue Jacket also taught me how to make strategic, realistic goals; once I wrote my goals down and started trying to complete them, I found it to be very motivating.”
Gordon also credits the old fashioned suit-and-tie that Blue Jacket academy participants are required to wear to class with helping to change his outlook and raise his self-esteem during the early days of his metamorphosis. “For me, I’ve never been the kind of person to put on a suit and tie,” said Gordon, laughing. “When I started coming to Blue Jacket, I would have to walk around the south side of Fort Wayne wearing my suit and tie to catch the bus. To see the reaction of people to me wearing my suit and tie made me feel really good about myself. To this day, every once in a while I’ll put on my suit and tie,” added Gordon shyly. “Blue Jacket gave me the opportunity to dress like a man and feel pride in myself.”
At several different times during our conversation, Gordon was quick to give praise and accolades to the staff of Blue Jacket for all of their hard work, support, and encouragement not just to him personally, but to all of those who come to the Career Academy. “Lance was my instructor and the way he taught the class was awesome,” said Gordon of the four weeks he spent in class. “The staff here is excellent. They greet you and smile all the time. It is nothing but positive attitudes and an encouraging environment in here.”
Gordon, who graduated in 2011, says that the hope that he found at Blue Jacket, Inc. at a time in his life when he felt completely hopeless was the real deal.
“I once felt like I wasn’t a dependable person, like I wasn’t of much value because of my past,” said Gordon. “It’s been a long journey for me to get to the point where I’m at now, and even though I know I’m still a work in progress, I have hope. I have a job that I love, and the family I love beside me. I feel like I am the kind of person that can really represent what Blue Jacket is all about, and I am proud of that.”
To learn more about how Blue Jacket Inc. is making a difference in Allen County, visit their website at www.BlueJacketInc.org