Reentry Highlights - Written Work

Summer with the LRC

August 2025, Tiffany Bullard, LRC Case Manager

Summer is winding down, and the back-to-school grind has begun! However, I can't bid farewell to one season of chaos and welcome another season of chaos without recapping the whirlwind summer months. Now, I am sure many of you did not come to read a short novella so I will merely highlight two points, our intern, Orion Song and housing. By the end, I hope you are just as proud as I am. 

This past spring, the LRC received an email from a rising Senior at East Chapel Hill High School, expressing interest in internships during the upcoming summer. Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of hosting interns; not that I don’t find the experience invaluable or I mind the teaching it is just extra work with an already overwhelming caseload with too much to do and never enough time. And if I am going to commit to something I want to do it well, particularly if I am teaching someone about reentry and the care that must go into it. 

But Orion made it impossible to say no. Literally. He continued to email, follow up, send his resume, references, etc. Mind you a 17-year-old about to head into summer break….

Isn’t this what I preach to my own almost grown sons? ‘If you want something go after it!’ ‘You have to create your opportunities!’ ‘Experience challenge and question what you learn from it!’ This kid was doing all the things I preach to my own kids, so who was I to gatekeep his experience?

So, we made it work and a week after his classes dismissed, he began a 9-week internship with the Orange County Local Reentry Council. From day one, Orion was not your typical intern. I wasn’t going to get away with just asking him to file paperwork or stuff folders, although he did help me with those! On day one, when I asked what his goals were during his time and what he was expecting to do he replied, ‘I want to engage in tasks that are meaningful and helpful for people returning home from prison; I would love some hands-on work.’

After a few days of shadowing the intake process and pop quizzes it was time for Orion to lead an intake. He hit the ground running and at the end of each day asked how many intakes were scheduled the following day! With intakes under his belt, we set out to familiarize him with the landscape of resources in Orange County for those returning from prison. We visited anywhere from the shelters to food banks, transitional housing, clothing banks, to social services, detox center to a parking lot. Parking lot? Here is where we sat for a minute and I asked. ‘What is not here?’ ‘What have you not seen?’ I didn’t expect him to answer right away but to marinate a little on the gaps and challenges people returning from prison face in Orange County. It was helpful, the Pop-Up Medicine Event was the next day! This was one event of several he attended to learn about what is available and who to contact to help direct resources for folks.

In addition to the Pop-Up Medicine event, Orion attended the Capital Area Joint Reentry Council meeting in Raleigh where he was able to meet and hear from other councils and heads of NC Department of Adult Correction, as well as a Reentry Simulation held at the Chapel Hill Public Library. Now, I could be wrong, but I believe the latter was probably the most impactful event he attended and experienced. As he rushed around the simulation, trying to access resources at one point, he walked up to me and said, "I think my best move would be to sell everything I have so I have money to leave the country. I might have a chance then."  Outside of being someone with actual lived experience, one can’t pay for that type of insight.

As our time together was wrapping up, I emailed Orion an assignment. A list of ten questions he needed to answer. The twist however, he could not just reply to the email, write a one pager, or answer at our next meeting, he had to creatively present these questions and answers, on his last day, to our Criminal Justice Resource Department staff.

I could be wrong, but many of us still cringe at the thought of public speaking and then having the pressure to present to a group of seasoned professionals?

But he showed up, stood up in front of us all and confidently answered his assignment in rap from! I am attaching the YouTube link of his presentation and below you can read the lyrics.

I commend Orion on his courage, but also his persistence, tenacity, curiosity and discipline. We all wish him the best during his senior year at East Chapel Hill High School and all his future endeavors! Thank you for choosing to spend your summer with the OC LRC!

Watch Orion Song's LRC Rap Video

(Verse 1) intake’s the gate, gotta set them goals, Without something to chase, reoffense takes control. Back to the block, two big hurdles in sight, Years locked up, world feels too bright, Registry tags you, can’t move like you should, Freedom’s on paper, but it ain’t all good. 

(Verse 2) Learned the network’s tight, but it’s quiet, indirect, Non-profits connect like a hidden architect. My “aha” spark? Need three forms of ID, Otherwise you’ll never be truly free. 

(Verse 3) At the License Counsel, get your DL right, Alliance for Medicaid’s fight, Freedom House heals from drug’s bite. 

(Verse 4) Section 8, Reentry Plus in the plan, Homestart IFC doin’ what they can. *pause Women got no transitional door, Registry folks stuck, nowhere to score. 

(Verse 5) Policy play, Boost the sign on bonus More Landlords take vouchers, less reentry housing slowness 

(Verse 6) Day one just scoping, helped a move at the start, Then shadowed, learned, intake was my part. Tiff gone, silence, then she came back, Hit Freedom, Oxford, plus on my track. *pause Joint Council meet, Medical Fair I seen, Simulation put me in the reentry scene.  

(Verse 7) Reentry Plus vibe, hoop out front, Fresh air hittin’ and the mind on the hunt, Inside could overwhelm with that freedom rush, After prison’s hush, the noise is a crush. 

(Verse 8) Simulation hit me, hands-on truth, Walked in them shoes, felt reentrant youth. Medical Fair? Need signs so folks know, Where to park, so we can make it all flow. Meeting? Bring the big boss in the chair, DAC’s leader, put some weight in the air 

Coming Home

August 2025, Tiffany Bullard, LRC Case Manager

I couldn’t be more excited and prouder of the housing updates I’m about to share. As many of us know, the housing climate is challenging and it can be even more so with not-so-great credit, criminal justice involvement, health issues, and the difficulties of obtaining and maintaining a livable wage. However, this summer teamwork took center stage. The following is just as much about our clients obtaining permanent housing after a long and daunting journey as it is about the many providers working to support our clients along the way.

This December, Mark came home. Unfortunately, home was homeless. We knew we had an uphill battle ahead and it was all hands-on deck. In addition to being elderly with several health conditions, Mark was released in winter without resources, insurance, or an ID. He had been through the LRC before, and we knew this time had to be different. We worked with our CJRD clinical supervisor, Allison Zirkel, and formulated an action plan to engage and stabilize Mark. This plan included weekly meetings with Alliance Health, FIT, SOAR, Adult Protective Services, and several other providers.

Emergency housing sustained for Mark while we worked on next steps: transitional housing. During his stay at emergency housing connections to mental health and medical care played a crucial part in his reentry. Baby steps and those started to stabilize. We simultaneously began the application packet for admissions into Wonderful House, a new bridge housing option in Chapel Hill. We all continued to collaborate, as you can imagine, there were many irons in the fire! While working on bridge housing, still maintaining emergency housing, and attending medical and mental health appointments, we also focused on meeting basic needs, providing referrals to enhanced services, and navigating social security and disability appointments! It truly took a village. Mark gained admissions to Wonderful House, but folks did not stop rallying around him to actualize the end goal…permanent housing. Just a few short months into his stay at Wonderful House, Mark was accepted into a semi-permanent, independent living program in Durham, where he currently resides. The program expires after 18 months, but we are in the final stages of securing admission into a skilled nursing care facility to further support Mark with his needs. Working on Mark’s reentry highlights the challenges of release for someone elderly, needing medical and mental health care without familial or financial support.

Most participants in the LRC require their own individualized goal plans—really not any different from any of us. Each requires a dedicated look and understanding of need to assess the best possible solution to often years-long struggles with justice involvement, housing insecurity, and health challenges. Anthony was first referred to the LRC three years ago by the Chapel Hill Police Department Crisis Unit. Anthony had just lost his housing, picked up new charges, and he was having challenges staying connected to medical services for chronic and serious health conditions. Throughout the years engagement was strained at best. Between justice involvement, hospital stays, lack of communication and transiency, stabilization proved incredibly difficult.

Fast forward to July 2025. Anthony received the first set of keys to his own apartment! This was a long time coming and not without the dedicated and collaborative efforts of Permanent Supportive Housing, FIT, SOHRAD, IFC, Alliance Health, Chapel Hill PD Crisis Unit, and of course Anthony’s refocused and committed engagement. Anthony’s journey to housing reminded me often of the importance of meeting people where they’re at and the importance of motivating them with their own stated goals. Can watching repetitive behaviors be draining? Certainly. Can seeing clients with whom you’ve built relationships struggle with mental health and medical sickness make you feel powerless? Absolutely. And that is the importance of our professional discipline. That is the importance of our own self-care in this work. That is the profound importance of community building, resource sharing, and networking with our service providers so we are not left alone carrying the heaviness of providing the best support we can for our clients.

Rounding out the summer season is our most recent collaborative housing success story, Dustin. During our initial intake, Dustin was solemn. He was unsure of the steps ahead of him. He was balancing reentry, recovery, and medical conditions. He had recently obtained employment but was already in arrears where he was living. He expressed the overwhelming anxiety of failure and returning to places he was working so hard to stay away from. Several providers and programs enlisted with supporting Dustin. He connected with Lantern, FIT, Alliance Health, DSS Family Navigators, and Freedom House. Little by little hope began to creep in. Dustin was connected to enhanced services through Alliance, which proved to be a huge step in obtaining permanent housing. Alliance’s Court Liaison and care manager worked diligently and promptly to apply for ILI funding; funding to assist individuals with rent and utility deposits. In an unprecedented 8- day turn around Dustin was holding the keys to his own apartment. I cannot say enough about the steadfast commitment his team has put into his reentry.

There is a long way to go with housing in Orange County. That is not a jab at our housing folks who work hard and feel immense pressure to access resources for our clients. There is just more that is needed all around. But if I have seen one thing within this challenge, it has been the hands down, boots to the ground shared vision, goal, and comradery of accessing safe and affordable housing for our clients. I couldn’t be more grateful for the professionals sitting around that table.  

Reentry Month in North Carolina is a Reminder of Challenges and Resiliency

April 2022, Tiffany Bullard, LRC Case Manager

Governor Roy Cooper has announced that April is Second Chance Month in North Carolina, a time to focus on the challenges facing the more than 20,000 people returning to their communities each year after completing sentences of incarceration. Barriers facing previously incarcerated individuals can be overwhelming. The Orange County Local Reentry Council (LRC) is now in its fourth year of service to Orange County and its formerly incarcerated residents.

The purpose of the LRC, as mandated by the N.C. Department of Public Safety, is to coordinate resources in the community in order to assist residents and their families as they transition from incarceration to society. In addition to assembling these resources and addressing gaps, the LRC and its umbrella agency, the Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department, provide case management services, funding and support to formerly incarcerated clients.

This year was heavily influenced by COVID-19 and the attending restrictions and limitations. Due to the pandemic, the LRC and clients experienced challenges similar to those that most human services providers experienced and continue to experience. The work for both provider and client is tough and required creativity and adaption on all fronts.

Despite often overwhelming barriers, LRC clients experienced many successes this year. It is difficult to present them all, especially when there are so many different person-centered goals and needs for a client caseload that averages around 30. In the paragraphs below, the LRC celebrates a few client success stories to shine light, power, encouragement, and strengthened community support for a resilient population who have been navigating and adapting since well before COVID-19.

The first success story came to the LRC by way of referral from a community partner.

Lost myself, completely, for a man. And when I say completely, I’m talking about a medical license, a driver’s license, my reputation, my integrity, my self-respect…my home and simultaneously gained 36 charges, a substance dependency, and a hopelessness I had never experienced in my life.

This client came to us two years into their sobriety. They had goals and needed support, including a detailed look into their charges, help talking to employers and having their license reinstated. Referrals were sent, providers were connected, and goals began to develop. Now, six months after this client’s initial LRC intake, they will be obtaining their driver’s license and have secured gainful employment in their professional field.

I am so proud of myself and believe me when I tell you there was a point when I never thought that would be possible again, he said.

Some LRC clients are already on their way, working hard towards their goals, and just need a small intervention – a boost to get them past a difficult spot.

I didn’t know how to ask. Well, maybe it was more I was embarrassed to ask. I remember calling twice and hung up after two rings (could’ve been one ring!) until I had enough nerve to talk to someone. But as the conversation went on, all I could express was gratitude for the welcome home bag, work boots, and funding for a first month’s rent. I still wasn’t able to work up the nerve to say ‘I need more support’. It’s shameful to be a man and ask another man for help. I work, I have stayed out of trouble since my release, but it’s still hard.

The client called to ask for one more month of paid rental assistance. Since his release the month prior he had secured employment working third shift, six days a week, 12 hours a day. He had a direct path of goals he wanted to achieve and when he wanted to achieve them, and he was knocking them out.

At that point, he was only $500 shy of obtaining a car that he had been saving for and was working towards having his license reinstated. With a little encouragement from the LRC and a little courage on his end, he has purchased the car, gotten his license back, and now drives to work each day.

Some clients come directly from incarceration and need immediate assistance finding housing and employment. This client was referred to the LRC from Community Corrections (Probation/Parole). At the initial meeting, we discussed what fears and obstacles lay ahead and what support was needed.

The client looked defeated and worn but still maintained a smile and nervous energy. We secured temporary housing for the immediate week in order to conduct a housing search of what was available for his needs. The following day I received a phone call from Orange Works at DSS, where they were drafting his new resume. They asked if the LRC could help with work items, including boots, pants, and a belt. After two weeks of intake paperwork, connections with service providers, and securing a longer-term (but still temporary) housing option, our client was ready to work.

My first etching! He brought a glass etching out during a case management meeting. The exquisite detail reflects the pride of creating something beautiful for the world rather than taking from it. The etching symbolized a lot, it wasn’t just a by-product of his employment and livelihood, but a reentry reflective of the grace, skill and steadfast patience often needed to navigate a daunting and overwhelming process.

At the Local Reentry Council, clients do the hard work of setting large and small goals and the incremental daily work of reaching those goals. The path isn’t always smooth, and the challenges of reentering society after incarceration with criminal charges on their background check, revoked drivers' licenses, lack of a support network and employment and education gaps, can be overwhelming to manage alone. The LRC provides encouragement and support in navigating the bureaucracy and overcoming barriers so clients can focus on their goals and rebuild their lives.