BONUS EPISODES
We go behind the walls of Orange Correctional Center in Hillsborough, NC to attend a graduation ceremony for a group of therapy dogs trained by residents of the prison. The non profit, EENP - Ears, Eyes, Nose and Paws - teaches incarcerated people to train therapy dogs that are then partnered with people who have disabilities. Listen and learn how these dogs transform lives.
Power of Love
Jefradian Stafford wants you to know he's not the same man who, a decade ago, lost everything to his opioid addiction and found himself in prison. In prison, he kicked his addiction. And after he got out, a second chance employer hired him as a truck driver. With the love and unconditional support of his mother and grandmother, he began to rebuild his life. But it was not until Jefradian learned to love and nurture himself that he began to find true happiness. Today he owns his own home and is married.
TROSA is an evidence-based, peer-driven treatment program for substance use disorder in Durham, North Carolina. Based on the concept of a therapeutic community, Trosa's two-year program provides comprehensive treatment, vocational training, education and continuing care.
In Part One, we meet CEO Keith Artin who began as a volunteer and never left. We learn what makes TROSA effective and why peer-driven community support is so vital in helping people kick their addiction.
(TROSA stands for Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers)
In Part Two of our series, we meet two TROSA graduates, who have completed the two-year program treatment program. Dymont Spellman and Kristie Foy come from quite different backgrounds and found their way into addiction through different paths. Yet years later, when faced with the possibility of dying, they both chose to come to TROSA, where they discovered a community of people who'd beat their addiction and were now supporting others through their recovery.
We hear their stories and discover why Dymont and Kristie are so committed to the TROSA community. (TROSA stands for Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers.)
Open the Dropdowns Below to Learn More about Each Episode
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Open the Dropdowns Below to Learn More about Each Episode *
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In this episode, we learn about April's transition back into society after spending nearly 32 years in prison. Anthony Willis, who, like April, had his sentence commuted by the governor also reflects life since his release. Finally, Antoine Blake, who was sent to prison when he was just 14-years-old, shares what he's learned from his many years in and out of prison.
Episode 3: A Conversation with Bessie Elmore
Today, Bessie runs a reentry house in Durham, North Carolina that specializes in supporting formerly incarcerated men with mental health challenges. In this podcast, Bessie offers her insight into the many complicated issues people face after they are released from prison.
Episode 4: Paying it Forward, One Returning Citizen at a Time
Today, Green and Elmore run a transition house in Hillsborough, North Carolina where they work with residents to give them the emotional and psychological tools they need to be successful on the outside. In this episode, we learn about their program SWIT – Success While in Transition – and what makes it work.
Co-host April Barber was incarcerated when she was 15-years-old. In this episode, we learn about the crime that sent her to prison for life. We'll also meet the advocates who fought to win her freedom and have supported her since her release.
Episode 6: Benevolence Farm - A Transition House for Women
Benevolence Farm offers women a roof over their head and a chance to adapt to life after prison all while earning a living wage.
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Episode 1: Welcome to Your Local Reentry Council - Part One
North Carolina's Local Reentry Councils were established in 2018 to reduce the barriers to reentry by providing case managers and a network of needed services to help people transition from prison. Currently, there are reentry councils in 20 of North Carolina's 100 counties. Orange County has one of the oldest and strongest reentry councils in the state.
Episode 1, pt. 2: Welcome to Your Local Reentry Council - Part Two
North Carolina's Local Reentry Councils were established in 2018 to reduce the barriers to reentry by providing case managers and a network of needed services to help people transition from prison. Currently, there are reentry councils in 20 of North Carolina's 100 counties. Durham has one of the strongest, best resourced LRCs in the state.
Episode 2: Addiction Meets The Law
The war on drugs has successfully filled our prisons and jails. But as the opioid epidemic shows, criminalizing drug use has failed to address the enormous problem of addiction in this country. Tune into this episode to hear personal stories about the intersection between addiction and incarceration.
Episode 3: Reflections of a Former Warden
Mike Thumm reflects on his twenty years as a Superintendent/ Warden of Orange Correctional Center in Hillsborough North Carolina. He shares the challenges and rewards of running a minimum security prison and recalls a time before changes in sentencing laws led to mass incarceration.
When Rachel Mascarenas's partner was arrested and sent to federal prison, her children were just 3 and 5 years old. In this podcast, we learn why it's said that when someone goes to prison their family goes with them and the societal consequences of that sad reality.
In 2013, Deb Cunningham and Maria Ikenberry began Ear Eyes Nose and Paws, a therapy dog program that trains service dogs for people with mobility and medical issues. Today, incarcerated men do the bulk of the training, transforming their sense of self from someone who's done harm to someone who serves others.
Episode 6: Filling the Gap in Healthcare
Since 2017, NC FIT - Formerly In Transitions - has been working to change that by connecting formerly incarcerated individuals who have a chronic disease with a primary care provider and a comprehensive reentry plan.
Bonus Episode: On a Mission with Purpose
On a Mission With a Purpose is a series of interviews conducted by April Barber Scales. Cierra Cobb has started two new initiatives to advocate for justice involved people. One addresses mental health while the other prepares returning citizens for the job market.
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Episode 1: Fifty-Two Years to Freedom
Incarcerated with more than two life sentences, Joe Perry thought he was condemned to die behind bars. But once he found a sliver of hope, he decided he would become a man worthy of his freedom. It took many more years but Joe is now a free man living and working in Durham. This is his story.
Episode 2: Incarcerating the Mentally Ill
Learn how Fit Wellness takes a holistic approach to treating formerly incarcerated people with serious mental illness, in an effort to break the cycle between crisis and incarceration.
Episode 3: A Father & Son Speak from the Heart
Edward Scott believes having difficult conversations with his loved ones is part of what it takes to be strong person and a good father. He invited us to listen in to the conversation he had with his grown son Terrell about what it was like to grow up without him because he was incarcerated.
Episode 4: Working with Women on the Inside
With so much focus on the mass incarceration of men, we often overlook the fact the number of incarcerated women stands almost seven times higher today than it did in 1980. Bianca Harris has watched the rise since she began her career in corrections in 1993. After more than 20 years at North Carolina's largest women’s prison, she has a lot to say about how incarcerated women should be handled.
Episode 5: It's Expensive to Break the Law
In this episode, we learn how court-imposed fees lock people in a cycle of debt and can lead to additional monetary sanctions, driver’s license revocation, probation extension, and jail time.
Episode 6: Providing a Second Chance
Formerly incarcerated people face a number of barriers as they try to rebuild their lives after prison. One big one is employment. In this episode, we learn about one company that's made a commitment to providing a second chance and find out what can happen when justice-involved people are given an opportunity.
Bonus Episode 2: On a Mission With a Purpose
Felishia McPherson describes how the lack of cultural understanding she experienced with mental health therapists in prison sent her on a mission to become a mental health counselor herself. Today she is Licensed counselo and a Peer Support Specialist specializing in Reentry and Domestic Violence. She also serves on the executive board of Nami - The National Alliance of Mental Illness.
Bonus Episode 3: On a Mission with a Purpose - April interviews a man on death row.
Lyle May received a death sentence in 1999. Since that time, he's found God, gotten sober, and has devoted himself to a life of scholarship and reflection.
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Episode 1: Thirty-Three Years on Hearsay
At the age of 20, Randolph Wilson was sentenced to life in prison in a case built entirely on hearsay. Three co-defendants, who testified against him, later recanted their testimony saying they'd been coerced by the local sheriff. After 33 years behind the wall, Randolph Wilson is a free man. This is his story.
Episode 2: Reflections of a Prison Chaplain
Meet Josh LeRoy, father, husband, and former prison chaplain. Josh spent roughly ten years pastoring to men in minimum security. He says it's the most fun he's ever had in any job. Learn what it was like to arrive at a new prison in the middle of Covid, how he thinks the carceral system should be changed, and why he finds prison ministry so rewarding.
It's one thing to get out of prison. It's quite another to stay out. More than 40% of returning citizens in North Carolina end up back in prison within the first two years. In this episode, we explore the reasons so many people fall down and are re-incarcerated. We'll meet Delfonzo Brewer and learn how his 27-years in prison left him unprepared for the transition back to society.
Episode 4: Brian Scott - Leading with Lived Experience
As a young man Brian Scott saw people in terms of what they could do for him. His behavior eventually led to a 20-year prison sentence. In the four years since his release, Brian's become a leader in North Carolina's reentry movement with his non-profit Our Journey. This is his story.
Meet Drew Doll and Daquan Peters, both survivors of solitary confinement, and both devoted to seeing the practice banned in US prisons. Hear their stories and learn why the Mandela Rules, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, declare the use of prolonged solitary confinement to be torture.
In our second episode examining the use of solitary confinement, we meet two people on a mission to end the use of prolonged solitary confinement in our nation's prisons. From personal experience, Craig Waleed understands the psychological harm caused by isolation in a 8x10 box. Dolores Canales was trying to save her son when she first joined the protest against conditions in California's Pelican Bay Special Housing Unit, known as the SHU. Her efforts helped spark a national campaign against solitary confinement.
Bonus Episode: On a Mission with a Purpose - Post Incarceration Syndrome
April riffs about the social, emotional, and psychological difficulties caused by the ongoing trauma of prison. She also shares some of the stubborn habits that have followed her home from her 31 years inside.
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Some 20,000 children in North Carolina have a parent who’s incarcerated. And yet, these young people often remain invisible in the eyes of society. That’s why the work that Melissa Radcliff does to connect children with their incarcerated parents and grandparents is so important. In this episode, we attend Parent Day at Orange Correctional and learn how Melissa Radcliff became an ardent advocate for the children of incarcerated men and women.
Ronnie Harris is a natural born storyteller. So when he was encouraged to document his 33-years in prison, he sat down and wrote a memoir. Listen to his story and discover why, for all the violence and brutality, he considers the real punishment of incarceration to be time itself.
The Incarceration to Homeless Pipeline
n 2024, one of four people in North Carolina’s prisons were released to homelessness. On the other end, people who lose their housing because of poverty or addiction often find themselves in jail. And the cycle continues.
In this episode, we meet a physician who has devoted his career to treating the unhoused. Another gentleman describes what it's like to cycle through the loop between homelessness and prison.
The rate of female incarceration in North Carolina has shot up 60% in the past 25 years and yet there is almost no reentry support for women. Join us for the first of a three-part series focusing in on the special challenges women face coming out of prison. In this episode we meet Kimberly Stone, Reentry Project Director of Arise Collective, a remarkable non-profit devoted to giving women the tools and support they need to rebuild their lives. With a big heart and deep understanding Kim introduces us to the holistic approach Arise takes towards reentry.
In Part Two of our Arise for Women series, we meet two women who are in the Arise program. Each one has children and each one has done prison time for offenses related to substance use disorder. They've come forward to tell their stories to offer hope to others caught in the grip of addiction.
Arise Collective is one of those rare organizations that provides housing for women transitioning from prison. But that's just the beginning. Arise provides emotional support, teaches life skills needed to become independent and, as we'll learn in this episode, even offers the opportunity to get a college degree. We'll meet two Arise residents who are taking advantage of that opportunity.
On a Mission with a Purpose: April’s Advocacy.
In this installment of her series, April talks about the latest advocacy initiatives she's become involved with. The Coalition of Black Forensic Peer Support Specialists supports Black people adversely impacted by the justice system. Jingle advocates for juveniles who've received a life sentence.
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Navigating Reentry with a Disability
Sharif Brown has an older brother who’s cycled and out of prison most of his life and a cousin who struggles with the effects of spina bifida. That lived experience with loved ones fuels Sharif’s passion to help people with disabilities reintegrate back into society after prison. We learn about the reentry program he’s developed with the North Carolina Alliance for Disability Advocates and find out how NCADA has helped Robert Lewis become independent despite a delayed diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy that’s compromised his vision.
Life on the Lam - The Ronald Carnes Story
If you were to meet Ronald Carnes, you’d never suspect he’d spent nearly half his life as a fugitive from the law. In 1970, the Black Panthers sent Ronald to Winston Salem to volunteer in their breakfast program for underprivileged youth. But when compatriot, Richard Carter, held up a convenience store, Carnes was implicated by association and sentenced to 15 – 20 years in prison. Three years later, he escaped and spent the next 41 years on the lam. This is the story a gentleman and perhaps the successful fugitive in North Carolina’s history.
Talking about Post Incarceration Syndrome
No doubt, incarceration is a traumatic experience, often filled with guilt, shame and rage, not to mention the habits you learn to survive and cope. Upon release, people carry that trauma into a world that’s overwhelming and often unwelcoming. Until recently there was no name for the psycho-social trauma people suffer following incarceration. It’s called Post Incarceration Syndrome and, in this episode, we’re going to learn how three individuals have experienced and dealt with this potentially crippling affliction.
On a Mission with a Purpose: April Talks Peer Support and More…
In the latest installment of April's On a Mission series, she gives us an update on her decision to pursue a master's degree in clinical social work. She describes the work of a Peer Support Specialist and explains why it's an attractive job for justice-involved people to pursue.
Reentry 2030: Changing How We Approach Incarceration
In 2024, North Carolina signed on to an ambitious national initiative to reduce recidivism and break the ongoing cycle of incarceration. Reentry 2030 brings together people across all sectors of government to work collaboratively with community leaders and people with lived-experience to lower the barriers to housing, healthcare and employment.
George Pettigrew serves as the Deputy Secretary for Rehabilitation and Reentry in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction and as such, oversees the Department’s Reentry 2030 Initiative. In our interview with him, we learn how Reentry 2030 is organized, who is actively participating, what their goals are, and how George Pettigrew views the opportunities and challenges moving forward. (Below are links to information about North Carolina’s participation in Reentry 2030.)
https://reentry2030.org/state-north-carolina/
https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/rehabilitation-and-reentry/reentry-2030
Making the Most of a Second Chance
Jorgie Brown was released in May, 2025 after five years in prison. She was lucky enough to find stable housing and wrap-around services with Arise Collective, one of the few programs in North Carolina that provides transitional housing for women. (see our 3-part series on Arise Collective which aired 12/03/25 - 01/08/26)
Fourteen months later, Jorgie is thriving. She's living on her own, finishing up her bachelor's degree and working a job that allows her to help others who are making the transition from prison. In this story, we learn how Jorgie Brown has made the most of her second chance through hard work, lots of support and a rare opportunity to finish college through a special program offered by Campbell University.
The Evolution of Kerwin Pittman
Kerwin Pittman’s transformation started in solitary confinement. He had a moment when he suddenly realized how much his gang activity was hurting his family. He vowed to turn his life around and spent the rest of his time in the hole reading everything he could get his hands on.
Eight years later, Kerwin is a leader in reentry and an influential advocate for criminal justice reform. In January 2026, he bought a decommissioned prison with the idea of converting it into reentry housing and a workforce development campus where formerly incarcerated people can heal and rebuild their lives. This is his story.