Social Action

Life After Incarceration in the Age of Covid

Originally aired June 2021. Watch the full presentation below.

An engaging presentation by three men formerly incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. This was an opportunity to find out what these men’s lives were like while inside San Quentin before and after Covid 19 ravaged the prison, and what they have been doing since being released.

Dwight is 66 years young, grew up in Hollywood California, raised as an only child until later in life when his sister was born during his father’s second marriage. Poor decisions and poor life choices led Dwight to prison at the age of 47. 17.5 years later he was found suitable for parole, with his last 10 years spent at San Quentin.  

Gino was sentenced under California’s 3 strike law in 1997.  He paroled from prison late January, 2021.Raised on the east coast, he endured an abusive childhood and sought healing at an early age.  It wasn’t until he came to prison that he was able to confront his inner demons, and through extensive programming, learned how to transform darkness into light. 

Frederick is 67 years old and was raised in Los Angeles, California where he was a long haul truck driver and the father of two sons. He was released from San Quentin in November of 2019. He has successfully reconnected with his family and now works in the mental health field for the company Building Lives as a case manager. 

• January   Organize and Mobilize (with the congregation).
• February   Bruce Berkowitz and Judy Kay went to Arizona with Swing Left and Indivisible canvassing door to door to register voters.
• February   Committee members did door to door canvassing with NBOP
• February    Presented Padi Selwyn, The End of the American Dream? (live event)
• April -June     Several committee members working with The Religious Action Center of California met with various elected officials individually.  Jim Wood, Mike Maguire, Marc Levine, Cecelia Aguiar-Curry, and Bill Dodd talked with us about specific issues, answered questions, and all welcomed us to come back.
• June     Sent letters of outrage to various organizations and politicians with regard to the mismanagement of the Covid Crisis at San Quentin.
• August    We presented Dr. John Mihalik, M.D. on the Climate Crisis
• July -August     Entire committee worked with Reclaim the Vote and Ner Shalom on postcard, phone banking, and texting campaigns prior to the November election. We made calls to almost everyone in our congregation.
• September    Forum with Senator Mike Maguire on current topic
• October    Proposition Forum prior to the November election.
• December     Winter Clothing Drive for clients of Elisha’s Pantry.​​​​​​​