MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A program that helps people looking for work after prison is now asking the community to help keep it alive.
The executive director of Lifeline 2 Success said if they don’t find funds soon, several people are going to be without work.
Blight Patrol is one program under Lifeline 2 Success, an opportunity for ex-convicts to effectively re-enter into society.
“We give them classroom instruction in the morning to teach them how to be positive productive citizens, and then in the afternoon they go to work so they can go earn a wage,” executive director Deandre Brown said.,
Brown said the program is contracted through the City of Memphis.
He said Lifeline is usually in the city’s budget to get funding, but he said that didn’t happen for next year’s budget due to cuts from COVID-19.
“We weren’t put into the budget like we usually are, so that put us in a bind because we depend on that to allow us to operate, like purchasing new equipment and to make sure we have classroom instruction in the day time,” Brown said.
The cut couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Brown said they only have three lawnmowers, and two are on their last wheel.
He said he needs two more lawnmowers to continue work, or the future doesn’t look bright for Blight Patrol.
“When our machines are down, it causes us to get extremely down on our contract and puts us in a situation where we could lose it,” Brown said.
Brown is now asking the community for help. He said 22 men and women are in the program and depend on it not just for income, but also for a second chance at being productive citizens of the community.
