Second chance on tap at Returning Citizens Career Fair in Reading

Oct. 3—There was a reason Jason Gonzalez always carried a gun.

It was the scar on his chest. The one that marked the spot where a bullet had ripped through his body, fracturing ribs and puncturing a lung.

He wanted to be ready in case he ever found himself facing down the barrel of a gun again. He wanted to make sure he could protect himself.

But Gonzalez didn't legally own the gun he carried each day in his waistband. And was living a life that was bound to get him in trouble.

The Reading resident ending up getting into a fight while carrying the weapon. He pleaded guilty in February 2021 to aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm — both felonies — and was sentenced to three to eight years in prison.

It wasn't until after that sentence began, until after he was already confined to a dreary cell, that he found out he was due to become a father.

Gonzalez said he took a hard look at himself at that point, that he questioned where he wanted his life to go. He decided he wanted to make a change, that he wanted to leave the life of prison and crime and guns far behind him.

So he got to work, taking part in programs offered at the prison. His dedication to change led him to be released this past May, a year early.

He's living in a halfway house, trying to put his life back together and forge a new, better path.

"I'm trying to find a stable environment," the 22-year-old said Monday, adding that he wants to be able to provide for his soon-to-be 2-year-old son. "I'm trying to stay out of trouble."

Part of that effort is finding steady work. Gonzalez was able to find some work with a local health care provider, but it's only part-time.

That's why Gonzalez headed to the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Reading late Monday morning. It's why he slowly walked down the rows of tables set up inside one of the hotel's ballrooms, stopping frequently to speak with the people sitting behind them.

Each of those tables represented a local business looking to hire. And the people manning those tables were quite open to offering job seekers like Gonzalez a second chance.

That's what the Returning Citizens Career Fair is all about, after all.

The career fair is put on by Berks Connection/Pretrial Services, a local agency dedicated to helping people reenter society after being incarcerated. The organization holds the event twice each year, once in March or April and again in the fall.

Kathleen Stone, employment development specialist at BCPS, said the idea behind the fair is simple.

"You're not defined by your mistakes," she said. "And I think that that's what the employers here all understand, that people have blemishes."

Stone said Monday's fair was one of the largest BCPS has put on, with a total of 40 employers on hand. Ten local service agencies also had booths at the event.

Part of the reason for the increased interest, she said, is likely the ongoing labor shortage businesses have been facing ever since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020.

"Since COVID the interest from employers has increased 10-fold," Stone said.

Before COVID, Stone said, officials at BCPS had to do a lot of work just to get in the door at some businesses. Now, she said, employers are actively seeking them out to look into hiring formerly incarcerated people.

"Employers have had to look outside of their typical resources," she said.

When added to the companies that have been working with BCPS for years, it has meant aincreased opportunities for people with troubled backgrounds, Stone said.

Lynnda Petrucelli, human resources director at J.P. Mascaro & Sons, said her company has been coming to BCPS career fairs for the last six or seven years. She said they're incredibly well run and provide a good group of job candidates.

"We always find people," she said.

Petrucelli said Mascaro & Sons was hiring for a lot of different positions on Monday, including everything from CDL drivers to mechanics to office workers. And, she said, the company is willing to give anyone a chance to fill them.

"We are a second-chance employer," she said. "We will hire anyone with a valid ID. We will give that second, or even sometimes a third, chance. Someone has to."

Nicole Henry, human resources generalist for Sweet Street, said her company is no stranger to BCPS's career fairs, having taken part in every one they've held.

"We've had a lot of success with these candidates," she said.

Henry said Sweet Street, like many companies, struggled with staffing when the world began to reopen from the COVID closures of 2020.

"When things opened up, we were in the same scramble as everyone else," she said.

While things have improved, she said, Sweet Street is still looking for workers. She said the jobs she needs to fill are in a fast-paced environment that requires a worker with a lot of energy who is eager to work.

Just an hour into Monday's four-hour fair, Henry had already met some candidates she thought might fit the bill.

"I think we'll be setting up a lot of interviews when we get back to the office," she said.

Gonzalez hopes one of those interviews is with him.

Sweet Street was one of several local employers that interest him. He said he loves food, so it could be a good fit.

But Gonzalez also said he's interested in working outside of Reading, giving him a chance to get away from the environment that led him down the path to prison.

He said he'd be interested in continuing to work in health care — he has helped provide home care to his ailing grandfather — or working in one of the many warehouses that have popped up around the county. He'd even be willing to work in waste management.

"Some people don't like getting their hands dirty, but I don't mind," he said. "I don't mind coming home smelling, that's what showers are for."

While Gonzalez is casting a broad net, Raylyn Overdorf has more specific career aspirations.

The 28-year-old from Reading is a graduate of the BCPS R3 program, which trains formerly incarcerated people in the building trades. She said the program sparked her interest in welding.

"I like doing it, I love doing it," she said, adding that she enjoys working with her hands and the focus welding requires.

Overdorf said she's hoping to get a job at Reading Truck or Morgan Truck Body, both of which were represented at the fair.

Being able to find steady, high-quality work is important to Overdorf. She said she sees it as a way to make up for past mistakes that have derailed her life.

She was incarcerated from Sept. 28, 2021, until Jan. 31. She didn't provide specifics about what led to her arrest but said she did some wrong things in her life.

He time in jail led to Overdorf losing custody of her two young daughters, something she can barely discuss without tears coming to her eyes. And while she knows getting a good job won't magically return her kids to her, she said she wants to make sure her life is on the right path in hopes that they someday will reenter her life.

"I have been doing all the right things I need to be doing," she said. "I did the R3 program, I got my driver's license back, I've paid all of my fines. It's a lot, it really is."

Pursing a career in a field she has come to love is the next step, she said.

"I would feel like I'm accomplishing something for my daughters," she said. "When they come back to me, I won't be this deadbeat mom."

More information

For more information on Berks Connections/Pretrial Services visit berksconnections.org.