EX-FELONS GET ON RIGHT TRACK IN LIFE WITH SECOND CHANCE

Thomas Davidson's graduation day was not like many others.

Yes, there were caps and gowns, proud family and friends as well as
diplomas. But on May 13, the audience gathered at the Mid-South Coliseum
wasn't there to honor bright-eyed students eager to explore the world.

They were there to honor ex-felons.

Davidson and 26 men and women graduated from the city's Second Chance
program. The initiative, designed to give one-time felony offenders the
opportunity to reintroduce themselves into society, is the idea of Mayor
Willie Herenton and is run under the umbrella of Yo! Memphis, the city's
youth workforce development program.

In order to graduate from Second Chance, participants must keep a job for
six months to a year, maintain a good work record and remain drug free.

Davidson has been a Memphis Area Transit Authority customer service
specialist for a year. In order to succeed in the program, he said, people
must be determined.

"You have to be a serious individual," he said. "You have to want to be on
the right track."

After his release from prison, Davidson was a telemarketer for MCI, then
the front office manager at a local Comfort Inn and Suites.

More than anything, he said his previous work experience helped him find
employment despite his status as a felon.

"I was a little more fortunate than others," he said. Neither he nor Second
Chance officials would disclose Davidson's crime. However, Second Chance
officials said it was not an offense involving violence.

When Second Chance opened its doors in January 2001, more than 2,075
ex-convicts living in Memphis and Shelby County applied for the program.
According to Yo! Memphis executive director Dr. Marie Milam, everyone who
applies is invited to participate in the program, but not everyone
completes each "intensive" step of the process.

Employers "have a say to determine which offenses they may not feel
comfortable with," said director of human resources Yalanda McFadgon.

First, participants must fill out a five-page application that profiles
their work history and willingness to change. It also helps the Second
Chance staff analyze each participant's strengths and weaknesses.

Each must be interviewed by a three-person panel at City Hall and pass a
drug screening before receiving a job placement. Afterward, the
participants are trained for employment.

If a participant misses any part of the program, he or she will not be
allowed to return.

Milam said about 40 percent of the participants enrolled in the program
drop out before they're interviewed by the panel because they "find out
what the requirements are and they just aren't ready."

As far as she knows, she added, no graduate has been re-arrested.

McFadgon said the toughest requirement for participants is coming to grips
with the serious atmosphere of Second Chance.

"We are serious," she said. "If you don't show up for an appointment, you
will be asked to leave. If you are using drugs, you will get screened.
Second Chance is about business."

Another 15 percent drop out after they've been trained for a job.

"Sometimes they may not have a support system in place," said Milam. "They
may not have the transportation, they may not have the day care they need,
or they may have a fear that this is too good to be true and that they are
going to fail. It takes a lot of work to convince them that this is real
and their dream has come true."

Of those who have completed the program, 165 have gotten jobs ranging from
unskilled labor to management through Second Chance. Most jobs are provided
by more than 28 "business partners" such as MATA, the city's Board of
Education and Swift Transportation Co.

Second Chance, much like Yo! Memphis, is funded by donations from
corporations, the City of Memphis and federal grants such as the Workforce
Investment Act fund.

McFadgon, a former police sergeant and later the supervisor for Herenton's
bodyguard detail, served five months in prison for concealing $70,000 in
drug dealing proceeds and conspiring to interfere with a federal investigation.

Herenton was criticized for hiring McFadgon to run the program.

Defending herself and the mayor, McFadgon said the public's focus should be
on the people who want the opportunity to be like everyone else.

"Second Chance is not about Yalanda McFadgon," she said. "There are no
perfect people, and it's easy for others to be judgmental."

She also said she knows first hand how apprehensive people can be about
ex-convicts returning to the workforce.

"These people have said they've made a mistake and they want a chance to
make it right," she said. "If we don't give people a means to survival,
they will create one, and most likely it will be something illegal."

According to the Tennesee Department of Correction's April 2002 Felon
Population Update, of the 13,385 felons jailed during the 2000-01 fiscal
year, 4,890 of them were back in prison for parole violations or committing
new crimes.

Milam said the program is about finding ex-felons jobs that pay more than
"the minimum livable wage," which is about $7 an hour. The average earned
wage for program participants ranges from $9 to $12 as most are employed
with trucking companies.

"Having an ex-felony designation places people in the position to have a
hard time finding a job," she said. "When they do, they're only making $5
an hour, and people can't live like that. Second Chance was designed
because people deserve jobs."