'We can return and do good': Re-entry program helps people find purpose after prison

A program in Baltimore is helping people find purpose after prison.The TIME Organization has a re-entry program that serves people convicted of crimes when they were young who are getting a second chance decades later."I was incarcerated at the age of 15, and I was sentenced to life in prison as a child for felony murder," said Terrence Nicholson, who spent 25 years in prison.Nicholson said he has maintained his innocence the whole time. A judge released him in April under the Juvenile Restoration Act, a Maryland law that allows people convicted of crimes as minors to ask a judge to reduce their sentence after serving 20 years."You can think of what it's going to be like when you get out, what the world is going to be like, what you're coming into, but it's like, when I came out here, I was stuck," Nicholson said.TIME Organization's re-entry program is trying to help Nicholson go from stuck to successful. The organization works with the courts and the Maryland Public Defender's Office to help people who are incarcerated get a shot at a second chance.Video below: Part 2 -- hear their story"When we have those moments when the client is released, it is a bit surreal," said Shareese Kess, the administrative director of clinical services and community engagement with TIME Organization's re-entry program. "It is very fulfilling and it just really warms my heart, as well as the entire team, because we are able to fulfill our purpose, which is to show everybody that returning citizens can be wonderful individuals in the community." TIME Organization provides returning citizens with housing, food, behavioral health services, substance abuse counseling, financial literacy classes, job support, life skills sessions and more.| RELATED: Women's shelter opens new self-care station for the homelessThe program has helped 16 returning citizens so far. Leaders said none of the people they have helped have returned to prison or committed any crimes since their release."Prison isn't rehabilitative whatsoever, and so TIME Organization is an organization that's helping people to get their life back in order and get that structure and get the life skills that they didn't get the past 15, 20, 30 years," said Melanie Yates, a dual diagnosis therapist with TIME Organization's re-entry program."We have a 100% success rate at this point," said Jason Hamm-Bey, a substance abuse counselor and a mental health therapist with TIME Organization's re-entry program.Nicholson is excited to be a part of that success rate as he continues through the program."Re-entry programs like TIME Organization are helpful because it allows you to release the burden of a figuring it out on your own," said Nicholson. "I'm learning new things every day, and they are right there for me."Nicholson is a little more than halfway through the six-month re-entry program. Ten people have graduated the program and are continuing to rebuild their lives outside of prison walls."We can change," said Desmond Perry, a graduate of TIME Organization's re-entry program. "There's hope for us. We should not be counted out."| RELATED: Mental health organization offering free haircuts to clientsPerry and Steven Carver were both convicted of first-degree murder as teenagers, and both received life sentences. Perry served 20 years in prison, Carver served 33 years, but both got a second chance after lawyers argued that they had been rehabilitated since their teen years and deserved a chance to get out."It doesn't make a difference if you stay one day or 30 days or 30 years in prison," said Perry. "The time lost cannot be made up, so when you get out, you have to try to make up for whatever you lost.""Over the 33 years that I spent in prison, basically my entire family passed away, so I did not have any family pretty much when I came home," said Carver.Both Perry and Carver found family with TIME Organization's re-entry program.Jason Hamm-Bey, a substance abuse counselor and mental health therapist with the program, what it's like to be a returning citizen because he was once in their shoes."We have a compassion that's greater than I've ever seen in any other program toward people returning into society, and we put a passion and I work to try to help the client succeed," said Hamm-Bey. "That makes all the difference in the world."It made all the difference for Perry and Carver, who both graduated from the program. Carver now works two jobs, one at a hospital and one as a house manager at a drug recovery house."I find that my niche in life is to try to help others," said Carver.| RELATED: Baltimore shelter aims to help men get back on their feetPerry has found a similar niche. He is now a college graduate and a peer recovery specialist with the Maryland Public Defender's Office, helping people who struggle with substance abuse and incarceration the same way he did."I am so passionate about showing people now that I am out here that there were hundreds of young men that were counted out because of their one bad act or because something that they got into, so I'm passionate now about showing individuals that we can return and do good," Perry said.TIME Organization accepts incarcerated individuals or those who have been recently released from prison. The organization only accepts court-based referrals from the legal representative of incarcerated or recently released individuals.The program is covered by Medicaid and Medicare. TIME also accepts some pro bono cases.The organization accepts donations for food, drinks, hygiene products and monetary donations to help them care for their clients. For more information on how you can help, send an email or visit the following website.