The “Returned Citizens” tag features in-depth stories and reporting about people who have come home after incarceration and are navigating the complex path of reentry. These narratives go beyond statistics to highlight the personal experiences, challenges, and successes of individuals working to rebuild their lives. WYSO covers a broad range of topics affecting returned citizens—including access to housing and employment, overcoming social stigma, involvement in community advocacy, and the impact of criminal justice policies. Through thoughtful journalism and firsthand accounts, this tag amplifies the voices of those striving for second chances and systemic change in the justice system.
-
Mary Evans, a 42-year-old Dayton, Ohio-based journalist, activist, and prison justice advocate known for her 'ReEntry Stories' podcast series on WYSO, has died. -
Robert McLendon spent two decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit. He says The Ohio Innocence Project and 'The Columbus Dispatch' paved the way for his release. -
To see Justice Michael Donnelly speak, RSVP to lheller2@udayton.edu by the end of the day on Sept. 10. -
We meet Sarah Davis, who, with her husband Patrick Davis, started The Fringe Coffee House. -
We meet Sarah Davis, who, with her husband Patrick Davis, started The Fringe Coffee House.
-
The choir's first concert in over two years features a range of music made alongside formerly incarcerated artists. -
Growing up, Wesley Dirmeyer read more than a lot of his friends, but he started living and breathing books once he went to prison. In the five and a half years he was incarcerated at Lake Erie Correctional Institution, he estimates he read at least 1,000 books — many of them checked out of the prison library, where he also worked. Reading, in turn, pushed him toward writing. -
Nearly 1 million residents of the state have felony convictions. For our Justice Matters series, we speak with some of them who have been living with the consequences, while we identify some calls for change. -
For Da'Jon Carouthers, the biggest contrast between free life and incarcerated life is the noise. "It's never really quiet," Carouthers said. "Even at night when you're sleeping, you've got two people to your right, two people to your left — you have no space." He began writing poetry and fiction as a way of creating that space for himself. -
Before Jonathan Young began writing poetry through the ID13 Prison Literacy Project, he spent a long time trying to "fit in" with others around him. -
This story is part of a series called Poetic Reentry, featuring the voices of formerly incarcerated men reading poetry they wrote in prison and talking about their lives since release. Please visit the main page for the series at http://www.ideastream.org/poeticreentry. Cardell Belfoure had been writing poetry for several years before joining the ID13 Prison Literacy Project while incarcerated at Grafton Correctional Institution in Grafton, Ohio. -
Kamisha Thomas is a filmmaker, writer, director, co-founder of the Returning Artists Guild in Columbus and a returned citizen. Kamisha was a filmmaker before she went to prison, but finished her short film while she was inside. There were a lot of projects in prison, she says, that helped her continue her filmmaking.
