Recidivism

End of Cycle, www.endofcycle.com, a member of the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, was started from within the confines of a Federal Prison in Forrest City, Arkansas.  The city is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate General who was also the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.  The scene was the laundry room where there were about 4 washers and 4 dryers on first floor of a two story  building, one of about 4 main dormitories in the Federal Corrections Center.  What was obvious was that most of the inmates were people of color with many with long prison sentences of over 20 years, some with no hope to ever seeing the outside of the Constantine wire fences.  It was on these washers and dryers that we would sit, conduct bible studies, and come to the full awareness of an ugly part of our beloved country, America.
In 1983 under the Omnibus Tough on Crime bill, planning commenced for a huge increase in privately owned prisons, construction which commenced in November 1987.  The federal prison population went from approximately 26,000 to approximately 220,000 in a matter of years.  Of all the prisoners in the world, the United States grew to claim 25% of the entire prison population.  Private companies in this lucrative business were guaranteed occupancy when they constructed their facilities.  So the courts needed to sentence many more and to longer prison sentences for the same level of crime.  What transpired was an exponential increase in prisoners which required a corresponding increase in prosecutors, judges, and prisons.  And what was evident was that there was a disproportionate rate per capita of people of color to white prisoners.

The prisons did little to rehabilitate those of us who were incarcerated and the recidivism rate was so high that on a daily basis we would see the return of friends who had left, failed, and reentered our world and we received them with jubilation.  There was very little hope for a better world for the prisoners themselves much less for their families that were left behind.  With Christ at the center of our works, we commenced to teach the basics to our fellow prisoners, some so that they could pick up their GED and others as advanced as they wished to dream and work for.  So from within the prison was born End of Cycle, originally End the Cycle, and was even incorporated and obtained a 501 (c) 3 non profit status.  On January 5, 2010, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals VACATED all of Isidro Garza, Jr.’s convictions and REMANDED back to District Court.  Later in March 2018 as Ulysses Williams was released, they restructured the company into what is now End of Cycle.  Recognizing that the aims and goals of End of Cycle paralleled some of those of the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice, End of Cycle joined the Coalition.

Having experienced first hand the judicial system from the streets, through the courts, through the prison system, the mission remains the same but our commitment to help others break the cycle of recidivism is unparalleled.  In End of Cycle and the Greater Houston for Justice we are committed to building bridges between people of different races, religions, economic status, and political affiliations with the ultimate goal of building safer communities with larger opportunities of success for all.   We are also committed to transform our system from Tough on Crime to Smart on Crime and we are committed to reducing the number of prisoners to only incarcerate those who should be locked up and to provide a support system for those who are returning back to society.  Having personally experienced the problems associated with reentry, we plan to break down the barriers that keep a former prisoner from succeeding by teaming up with corporate America and helping them obtain jobs that pay a respectable living wage.

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