When Ronnie went to prison, it cost 5 cents to mail a letter, 31 cents to pump a gallon of gas, and 21 cents to buy a loaf of bread. That same year, Studebaker made its last Cruiser and shut down operations for good, Bob Dylan went electric to the dismay of folk music purists around the world, and U.S. combat units were deployed in Vietnam. The changing world, however, did not leave Ronnie behind. And as scientists figured out how to cram more components onto an integrated circuit, Ronnie transformed himself from a headstrong criminal to humble soul eager to start over at 64.

So how did he do it? “I watched a lot of movies,” he quips.

In fact that might not be far from the truth. Research suggests that mass media helps prisoners stay informed about changes in society and minimizes the shock of returning home following especially long periods of incarceration. “I tried my best to keep up with what was happening around me,” Ronnie recalls, adding that he watched the news whenever he could, he spent a lot of time reading and – unlike many prisoners that prefer to forget the life they left behind – he kept in contact with his family. “I guess I always knew I would be going home someday.”

And go home he did. It took 20 years of consistent good behavior and 11 parole board hearings but Ronnie was finally released to live with his family in East Ridge. The transition, however, was anything but smooth. A glitch in the law prevented him from using his birth certificate to obtain identification and work lawfully. A cancer diagnosis he received in prison left him needing surgery in the community and no means to pay for it. His criminal record disqualified him from many public assistance programs, his age disqualified him from many market opportunities, and the fact that he never contributed to social security (he was in prison his whole adult life) meant that he would be ineligible for retirement benefits unless he worked until he was 74.

“If it wasn’t for my family I don’t know what I would have done,” he observes. “They were there for me while I was incarcerated. And they have been there for me since I have been out.” Whereas CEi should have been the first place he called on for help, no one told him about the Chattanooga agency that provides reentry services for released prisoners. In fact it was only by a series of accidental events that Ronnie was lead to CEi and to a legitimate second chance.

“I read about CEi in a story on prisoner reentry in the Times Free Press and got in touch with them right away,” he recalls. “The people that answered the phone were so kind and so helpful. They put me in touch with the Senior AIDES program and I guess you can say the rest is history.” Ronnie completed the work readiness course at CEi and has continue to serve the organization through a paid work experience program of Senior Neighbors. “These last six months have been amazing,” he says recounting a new litany of events which now includes his first paycheck, first bank account, first time on the Internet, first airplane trip, first hotel stay, first public talk, first newspaper interview – and a future first apartment.

Our gratitude and thanksgiving is extended to Cindy Crutchfield and her fine staff at Senior AIDES for supporting Ronnie in his work experience and computer training, to Project Access and Dr. John House for their first rate cancer care at no cost, and to Elisabeth Donnovin for the helpful counsel and legal work to reconcile the discrepancy that continues to prevent him for obtaining identification.

“I guess what is most on my mind now is knowing that I’m 65 and that I don’t have many more productive years left. I just want to live them as quietly and as peacefully as possible and find some way to repay all the kindness that has been shown to me since I’ve come home.”