The 98% - Life After Prison

Send us Fan Mail

Kerwin Pittman’s transformation started in solitary confinement. He had a moment when he suddenly realized how much his gang activity was hurting his family.  He vowed to turn his life around and spent the rest of his time in the hole reading everything he could get his hands on.

 Eight years later, Kerwin is a leader in reentry and an influential advocate for criminal justice reform.   In January 2026, he bought a decommissioned prison with the idea of converting it into reentry housing and a workforce development campus where formerly incarcerated people can heal and rebuild their lives.

This is his story.

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

Jorgie Brown was released in May, 2025 after five years in prison.  She was lucky enough to find stable housing and wrap-around services with Arise Collective, one of the few programs in North Carolina that provides transitional housing for women.  (see our 3-part series on Arise Collective which aired 12/03/25 - 01/08/26)

Fourteen months later, Jorgie is thriving.   She's living on her own, finishing up her bachelor's degree and working a job that allows her to help others who are making the transition from prison.  In this story, we learn how Jorgie Brown has made the most of her second chance through hard work, lots of support and a rare opportunity to finish college through a special program offered by Campbell University.

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

In 2024, North Carolina signed on to an ambitious national initiative to reduce recidivism and break the ongoing cycle of incarceration.  Reentry 2030 brings together people across all sectors of government to work collaboratively with community leaders and people with lived-experience to lower the barriers to housing, healthcare and employment.  

George Pettigrew serves as the Deputy Secretary for Rehabilitation and Reentry in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction and as such, oversees the Department’s Reentry 2030 Initiative.  In our interview with him, we learn how Reentry 2030 is organized, who is actively participating, what their goals are, and how George Pettigrew views the opportunities and challenges moving forward.  (Below are links to information about North Carolina’s participation in Reentry 2030.)

https://reentry2030.org/state-north-carolina/

https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/rehabilitation-and-reentry/reentry-2030

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

In the latest installment of April's On a Mission series, she gives us an update on her decision to pursue a master's degree in clinical social work. She describes the work of a Peer Support Specialist and explains why it's an attractive job for justice-involved people to pursue.

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

No doubt, incarceration is a traumatic experience, often filled with guilt, shame and rage, not to mention the habits you learn to survive and cope.   Upon release, people carry that trauma into a world that’s overwhelming and often unwelcoming.  Until recently there was no name for the psycho-social trauma people suffer following incarceration. It’s called Post Incarceration Syndrome and, in this episode, we’re going to learn how three individuals have experienced and  dealt with this potentially crippling affliction.

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

If you were to meet Ronald Carnes, you’d never suspect he’d spent nearly half his life as a fugitive from the law.   In 1970, the Black Panthers sent Ronald to Winston Salem to volunteer in their breakfast program for underprivileged youth.  But when compatriot, Richard Carter, held up a convenience store, Carnes was implicated by association and sentenced to 15 – 20 years in prison.   Three years later, he escaped and spent the next 41 years on the lam.   This is the story a gentleman and perhaps the successful fugitive in North Carolina’s history.

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

Sharif Brown has an older brother who’s cycled and out of prison most of his life and a cousin who struggles with the effects of spina bifida.  That lived experience with loved ones fuels Sharif’s passion to help people with disabilities reintegrate back into society after prison.   We learn about the reentry program he’s developed with the North Carolina Alliance for Disability Advocates and find out how NCADA has helped Robert Lewis become independent despite a delayed diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy that’s compromised his vision.

 https://adanc.org

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

In Part Two of our series we meet two TROSA graduates, who have completed the two-year program treatment program.  Dymont Spellman and Kristie Foy come from quite different backgrounds and found their way into addiction through different paths.   Yet years later,  when faced with the possibility of dying, they both chose to come to TROSA, where they discovered a community of people who'd beat their addiction and were now supporting others through their recovery.  

We hear their stories and discover why Dymont and Kristie are so committed to the TROSA community.  (TROSA stands for Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers.)

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

TROSA is an evidence-based, peer-driven treatment program for substance use disorder in Durham, North Carolina.   Based on the concept of a therapeutic community,  Trosa's two-year program provides comprehensive treatment, vocational training, education and continuing care.

In Part One, we meet CEO Keith Artin who began as a volunteer and never left.  We learn what makes TROSA effective and why peer-driven community support is so vital in helping people kick their addiction.

(TROSA stands for Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers) 

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.

Send us Fan Mail

Jefradian Stafford wants you to know he's not the same man who, a decade ago, lost everything to his opioid addiction and found himself in prison.  In prison, he kicked his addiction.  And after he got out, a second chance employer hired him as a truck driver.  With the love and unconditional support of his mother and grandmother, he began to rebuild his life.  But it was not until Jefradian learned to love and nurture himself that he began to find true happiness.  Today he owns his own home and is about to be married.  

In 2023, Judy Van Wyk and April Barber partnered to create a podcast about the many issues people face when transitioning from prison. Van Wyk is a longtime video producer and criminal justice advocate.  April Barber received a life sentence when she was 15. After more than 31 years, she had her sentence commuted by Governor Cooper. She was released March 24, 2022.