VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Inmates in the Virginia Beach Correctional Facility are using a job fair to make plans for a new beginning when they’re released.
The Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office hosted their second job and resource fair Wednesday morning and Sheriff Rocky Holcomb said they want to offer the resources the inmates need to have a fresh start when they get out.
Holcomb said the job fair is part of their “Road to Hope” program for the inmates.
"We want to cut down all the recidivism we can," he said. "The Road to Hope program provides services and skills that when they get out, they don’t reoffend, they don’t come back here."
Inmates who are within 90 days of getting out had the opportunity to explore job opportunities, transportation options and housing availability.
"So many times people have said ‘help us when we get out, help us when we get out,’ so we’re trying to provide these wraparound services, so when they get out, they can go to any one of those folks and get the help they need," said Holcomb.
Inmate Geoffrey Jones has spent the last month behind bars.
"Homelessness at the time leads you to, you know, not think well at times. I learned my lesson and I’m ready to move on and just do things right," he said.
Jones was one of dozens of inmate who took advantage of the job fair.
"Let us know we’re not alone and to let us know there’s actually resources out here if we search," he said.
Jones is just a week or two away from being released and he said he wants to make different choices this time around.
"I have two kids so, you know, my main focus is to make sure my kids are good, so I’m gonna do everything that I can to stay focused on the task at hand and get a job when I get out of here. Stay focused and just do better than I did yesterday," he said.
Holcomb said at any given time, they have between 950 to 1,500 inmates in the Virginia Beach Correctional Facility, but they want to reduce that number with more events like this.
"All these folks came out to participate today and give these prisoners some hope when they get back out to their families and their neighborhoods," said the Sheriff. "We want to make our inmate population go down and the city of Virginia Beach population go up."
Jones said he looks forward to what's next for him.
"I believe everything happens for a reason, you know, I’m taking my time and just using that time to think and using the resources that are given to me," he said.