About 4,500 people are released from Minnesota prisons each year. Many of them have spent years, if not decades, behind bars, separated from friends, family and community.

What happens when they finally return? How do they rebuild their lives during this complex and often precarious transition?

That was the topic at a collaborative Sahan Community Live and North Star Journey Live event recorded on April 24 at the St. Paul Neighborhood Network.

Co-hosted by MPR News senior editor Brandt Williams and Sahan Journal digital producer Alberto Villafan, formerly incarcerated Minnesotans shared first-hand stories of what makes reentry such a difficult process. Community leaders and reentry advocates also shared what helps and what holds back people as they exit incarceration and reintegrate into their community.

Guests:

• Antonio Williams is the founder and executive director of T.O.N.E. U.P., a grassroots organization dedicated to empowering formerly incarcerated individuals.
• Rea Smith is the Women’s Services Project Coordinator of the Behavioral Health Division at the Minnesota Department of Human Services.
• Erick Washington is the co-founder of the Kingsmen Project.
• James Becker is the assistant federal defender and federal defender representative in the District of Minnesota Reentry Court program.
• David Riley is an addictions counselor at RS Eden, a Minneapolis-based organization that offers treatment for drug addictions, housing assistance and reentry support.