MRS provides support to help returning citizen reach his employment goals

Tom has a truly remarkable story. In under a year, he went from wearing a jumpsuit in prison to wearing a dress shirt in an office as a manager. He was newly out of a long prison sentence when he walked into the Kalamazoo Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) office and filled out an application after one of his various parole meetings in the area. With a little support, under six months later he was working independently full-time in management at an auto transmission shop.

At parole, Tom already had a strong support network but recognized that he needed a little more help than they could offer to reach his goals. His priories were gaining work experience, finishing parole and making money so he can save for the future.

While incarcerated, Tom worked his way up to running the sign/print shop and obtained an Associates of Arts in Business Administration from Jackson College. Tom’s drive to obtain the future he wanted for himself and willingness to ask for help were huge factors in his success.

Tom worked with his MRS counselor to figure out what supports were missing in his network and how we could fill those gaps. This resulted in him being connected to Supported Employment at the Van Buren Community Mental Health where he worked with a job developer to capture both his civilian work experience as an auto mechanic and his management experience while incarcerated.

Tom has a supportive family who helped him with his transportation needs for employment and once employed MRS purchased the mechanical tools he needed for the job.

Through this collective partnership, Tom really did have the tools for the job. In under three months, he went from working in the garage to working in the office as a Service Manager. He is still happily employed and achieving the goals he had set for himself.