By: Vuyolwethu Nzolongwane
Clean Slate is a non-profit organisation that seeks to change the lives of ex-offenders by assisting them with reintegrating into society after they have served their time in prison.
Brian Francis began his research in 2017 while he was still living in the UK and two years later, he registered with the NPO and has since helped multiple ex-offenders by helping them to get jobs, start their businesses and become formidable members of the community. The Clean Slate program has been in operation since 2019.
Like any organisation, they have encountered some challenges along the way and continue to encounter them.
“The hardest challenge that we have encountered so far has been getting the necessary funding from government and we are hoping, praying and trusting that we will get there someday where we will get funding from the government without any strings attached to it where we can continue to run the program the way that we believe we should,” said Francis.
Although there is no formal process that interested ex-offenders have to follow when they want to be part of Clean Slate, a person has to show commitment and interest in being part of the program. The NPO works in partnership with programs that have already been established inside the prison system where they get referrals for some of the ex-offenders who might be interested in being part of Clean Slate.
“We are in no position at the moment to help everyone but we do reach out to people that we see have a real desire to change and we always leave it up to them to reach out to us,” said Francis.
Reagan King who is part of the program spoke of how grateful he is to be part of the program and how he was rejected by multiple companies when he sought employment due to his criminal record. King spoke of how the program has helped him to develop for the better.
“Clean Slate has been very helpful and supportive in my journey after I was released, they are always checking up on me and giving me feedback and Brian is always there and helping me in my job search,” said King.
Throughout the pandemic, the NPO in partnership with different corporates and the public has been able to assist families and the homeless with food parcels and necessities.
Clean Slate hopes to open their first halfway house for female ex-offenders by mid to end of June and hopes to grow to be able to help more people as their research has found that unemployment and unsettled living environments are the two main contributing factors leading to crime.
“To date, our ex-offender clients have not relapsed and we have had good results where we have got a few of them into the workplace, a few of them have started their businesses, are in construction, one is a teacher and another one was promoted within the first six months in the workplace,” said Francis.