Ep.2 "From Prison to Our Home" in Kewanee, IL. w/ Fred Timmons & Chance Gillespie

This is part 2 of a 5 part interview series highlighting the amazing work that is happening in Kewanee, Illinois in regards to prison ministry and re-entry initiatives. 

In this powerful episode of the Wrong to Strong Podcast, host Omar Calvillo is joined by special guests Fred and Chance for a heartfelt discussion on the redemptive journey from incarceration to reintegration. Fred shares his experiences growing up in Illinois, facing life challenges, and the impact of a supportive community on his re-entry into society after serving nearly 30 years in prison. Chance, along with his wife, opens up about their commitment to prison ministry and their personal journey in helping former inmates rebuild their lives. Tune in for inspiring stories of hope, faith, and perseverance, and learn about the transformative power of compassion and community support.

Transcript

Omar: 0:15

From the city of Chicago, a city most recently known for its crime and violence. On this podcast, we will be sharing stories of redemption from individuals raised in the tough streets of Chicago and from around the country. Some of them were gang members, drug dealers, incarcerated victims, and perpetrators of violence. Listen to my guests as they share their experiences, struggles, trauma, but also the strength, Hope, faith and perseverance. These have developed in them to keep pushing and moving forward in life. Tune in to hear how their lives have gone from darkness to light and from wrong to strong.

0:56

Hello, everyone. Welcome to to Strong Chicago podcast. I'm your host. My name is Omar Calvillo. Uh, and tonight, we're out here in, uh, Kewanee, Illinois. Uh, we're out here, uh, uh, brother Chance is home. He invited us, uh, to thank you for your hospitality, brother, for allowing us to come out here. Uh, so I drove out here with, uh, Ronnie Carrasquillo. He wanted to, uh, bring me out here. to highlight some of the stories, uh, as far as prison ministry goes, what this community in particular is doing as far as a prison ministry. So, a little earlier, I interviewed, uh, Chance's wife, uh, Michelle. So you know, I don't know if I'm going to release that interview first or this one, you know, we'll see. But eventually you're going to hear both, you know, and with us also, we got my brother Fred. I just met his brother out here. So welcome to the podcast, brothers. Thank you. So I'm going to start with Fred, you know, cause you, you had experience as far as the Kewanee, you know, as far as the prison system. Uh, but, but before, as we get into this part of it, you, you want to tell us, uh, where did you grow up at? And, uh, tell us how, how was life for you when you were younger, maybe in those formative years that you can remember?

Fred: 2:01

Well, I, I was actually, um, I'm not from Chicago, I was born in New York. Okay. So me and my mother, we, um, took a Greyhound, we took a Greyhound bus. Probably when I was like two years old, came to Illinois. You know, her and my father was, um, going through their own little personal issues, so she felt the need to leave the situation. and relocate. Um, growing up, I stayed some everywhere in Illinois. I done lived in Hazel Crest. I done lived in Harvey. I done lived in Bloomington. I done lived in like the north side, the west side, the south side, you know. So with that, you can imagine what it's like being the kid going from school to school, school to school, school to school. So I never was like stationary, like as a child, you know, a lot of kids nowadays have one stable school and they go to that school, that grammar school, then they graduate and they go to a high school and then they graduate from that high school. I wasn't like that for me. So with that, I had, uh, I don't want to say problems, but I had issues, you know, doing certain things and, um,

Omar: 3:19

Well, when, when, when you look back now, obviously, you know, we, we, we, we're looking back. How do you feel that affected you as you, as you got older? Like that, that, that part of it affected, it

Fred: 3:28

affected, it affected, it affected me in a lot of ways because I never really had a solid foundation to like, you know, stand on because I was always moving, you know, when you want a child to be able to fully develop into the person that they go grow up to being, you know, especially like with just being productive. but I was comfortable in society by being stationary meaning a school. They're here to teach us that invest in them whole heartedly. And they graduate from that school when they move on to other schools and you know, it was like that for me. I'll get comfortable in one area. Then we got to move, you know, again, we got to move. So it's like it was frustrating. Yeah. because Growing up, I wasn't able to catch on, like catch on to certain things.'cause I wasn't learning. I was learning, but it was like, you take me from doing this in this class and snatch me out. Now you put me in the class. So they already in the middle of something else. Yeah. And that was like, you

Omar: 4:40

know, I was trying to pay like, uh, catch up. Catch up, like wherever you go. Exactly. How, how do you feel that affected you? Like, like moving into your teenage years, you know, like those, what, what did you start, you know, how, how does life look for you?

Fred: 4:51

It affected, it affected me. A lot. Um, in my teenage years, it falls on my decision making because my decision making was all over the place. You know, I got like when I got incarcerated, I was 16. I was a juvenile. Um,

Omar: 5:08

I could ask you before you got a 16, any, any male role models in your life in this time, maybe trying to steer you in a positive direction or did you have somebody that influenced you, whether in a good way or a bad way, I guess, who, who played like a, like a big role as far as influence during those teenage years?

Fred: 5:24

Um, the people that I would say had like somewhat of a positive influence on me, um, they was, they, like, they really weren't family. It was like people that I met, like being in the neighborhood, you know, like certain old people that, you know, it was like cool, but I had some teachers though like, I remember one teacher, um, named Ms. Oldman, like, that lady was amazing, you know. I, to this day, I still hear her, hear her name on my phone, hope, like, a picture of her pop up. I was like, oh, that's her. I could reach out to her.

Omar: 6:04

Um. Is there something in particular that she spoke over you, or what, did she show you love or encouragement in a certain

Fred: 6:11

way? Well, I was in, I was in, um, I was in, like, behavior discipline. Disorder class, you know, uh, BD, you know, I had a behavior disorder, um, and she was like one of the teachers in the class and she came in that class like completely transparent, willing to help all the kids that was in the class and we had some of the kids that was abusing it, like, you know, throwing desks at her and stuff like that. I was like her protector in a sense because she was a good person, like a genuine person. And like, and here it is, you got someone that's trying to help you and, you know, really like invest who they are into you and you just not, you know, taking it for granted. So I always had a soft spot for people like that, even when I was little, you know, so that should probably be the

Omar: 7:04

one that comes to mind. All right. Now you mentioned at 16 being incarcerated, that, that, that start like leading into a lot of incarceration. Or was it?

Fred: 7:13

No, man. I was, um, how they say, jump out. I jumped off the porch, man. I was like 12 years old. Full, full, full throttle. Growing up in Humboldt Park. Um, you know, people that's from the area, they know how it is growing up in the area. From Augustine, um, Augustine, Francisco to California and Augusta from North Avenue and, you know. Chicago Avenue, just all over the place. And I grew up in a time where growing up in them areas, it was like you represented something for me from different sides. And my friends, we all just made decisions, bad decisions, actually bad decisions, poor choices as kids to join street gangs. And um, in the process of doing that, I made a decision. When I was 16 that uh Cost me a large part of my life How many years did you end up doing totally I was sentenced to 60 years at the age of 16 and I did 28 straight years off that sentence

Omar: 8:41

How recently ago did you get released December 23, okay, man For years. Fairly recent. Yeah. Two years. Okay. So you, you know what, we, we we're gonna, I'm sure there's, is there anything that stands out during your time, good or bad? Any, uh, memories you wanna share? You know, before we doing my time? Yeah, during your time, like during all that? Yeah. Like anything. Uh, oh man. I'm sure there's plenty your stories. I know we you. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fred: 9:09

I grew up in the system pretty much. Um, I came in 16 years old went to Pontiac, you know, it was called the Thunderdome. So I was 17, 17 years old and Pontiac Correctional Center at the time it was a Thunderdome. So I grew up in the system. Um, you know, they had the predator and prey mentality with, you know, a lot of the guys was taking advantage, trying to take advantage of the young guys. And I went into the system with the mindset where you're not going to take advantage of me. So I had a lot of, I had a lot of situations in there, but I always was the aggressor. And to be honest, like, you know, in a moment I look back like, man, some of the decisions I made back then was, you know, necessary because that's what got me to where I am today. I had to survive. I was like, he put in the. situation around at the begrown folks, and I, you know, I made it through. God kept me.

Omar: 10:16

Gotcha. I know you mentioned God. What, what does, uh, what role does God play in your life? For you from younger or even during the prison time till, till now?

Fred: 10:25

God always played a, um, part of my life, even when people didn't, you know, from the outside looking in, didn't know. You know, I remember growing up as a kid, my mother dressing us up, you know, taking us to church, putting Vaseline all over my face. I ain't like it, you know. Um, but I remember going to services with my mother. It wasn't every Sunday, but she, she instilled God in me as a child. Um, and um, but I was in prison, to be honest. A lot of the services that we was, um, back then, we, we do the lives and service for all the wrong reasons. You know, there was like message, message services, like in the beginning of my incarceration, but I got older and start actually like taking certain things in my life serious, like getting to know God and building my own personal relationship with God. Um, I learned that God is real. Um, I had opportunities to attend classes where I met brothers like Ronnie and, um, Paul and, and these like later on in my years, like on the verge of coming home where I met these guys. And they didn't know how much of an impact they was having in my life just by hearing some of the things they was going through, how they was moving because I was always quiet and I stayed to myself and we never really ran in the same circle. But we surround each other. Um, so God played a great role in my life, man. He's reason one. Yeah.

Omar: 12:06

Amen. Amen, brother. Yeah. Hey, man, you know what? I want to get into that that part of you. Don't worry. We're out here in Kewanee. God. Okay. Can you talk about your experience in Kewanee? My experience in

Fred: 12:17

Kewanee. I came home being in life skill reentry center. Um, I was Well, I had a support system, you know, my fiance, soon to be my wife. Um, she, she, uh, she was holding me down, man, tenfold. Um, and you know, a lot of people take for granted, you know, a lot of the females that be in their lives when they're in that type of situation. Thinking that they, you know, just gonna have a red carpet laid out for them. She did what she could do, you know, with their reason, you know. Oh, and I care. Um, I was lucky enough to have my, get my own place and I was, uh, on the inside, I had a job working for the city. So I used to leave out the institution every day and then that's how I was able to leave and I stacked up a nice, a nice amount of money, man. That she didn't know about, my fiance didn't know about. I can tell her, you know what I mean, you know what I mean? But, uh, but, uh, that gave me a good head start. man. And it was, you know, thanks to Warden Carruthers, to be honest. Thanks to Warden Carruthers and Warden Jones for signing the paperwork allowing me to actually come within their facility. You know, after observing me and seeing the type of person I was, they gave me a shot to actually work for the city and put me in a position where I was able to like, you know, relearn myself and see the streets, you know, in a different way and actually be a You know, for a certain amount of hours, I had to go back, but it was life changing.

Omar: 14:00

How much time did you have left when they allowed you to start doing that, to leave and come back?

Fred: 14:05

Well, I had like, when I got to the re entry center, I was at the end of my incarceration. My original out date was 2025, like March 16th. Yeah. Yeah. And, um, a couple of days from now. Yeah. Yeah. A couple of days, right? And, but, uh, through the grace of God, man, uh, I mean, I was in East Moline, taking it back a little bit. And, uh, by me staying out of trouble for the amount of time I had to stay out of trouble, the director, um, gave me 19 months at one time, good time back. That's a

Omar: 14:46

lot.

Fred: 14:47

Gave me 19 months. So, uh, put me in a position where I could actually go to Kewaunee. And I put in for it. They allowed me to go after, you know, observing me or whatever. And once I got there, I just, you know, kept my head down, worked out, you know, stuck to myself, went to school, did what I had to do. When the opportunity came for me to get a job on the outside, I got it, saved me some money. They put me in a position where I got housing. When I came home, you know, I met, I met a lot of people in the community, man. Um, it first started with Lance, Lance and Steve Franklin. They was at my house, man, but there was nothing in there. Um, I had a blower mattress and the clothes my fiancee got me and it was like, man, hey, we here, you know, and they took me to, they took me to the parsonage this man and, and actually looked out for me. Um, Some of the stuff that they gave me, I still have,

Omar: 15:51

you know what I mean? What are some of the things that they helped you out with?

Fred: 15:57

Uh, man, they had a house, man, they had a house full of everything, like, ready to get that, take that, get that, get that, you know, get them cups, get them plates, get them spoons, stuff that you think that you really ain't, you know, gonna need too much, but you like, hold on, all the small things, you know what I mean? Um, coffee pots and beds and, you know, box springs,

Omar: 16:24

man,

Fred: 16:26

you know, so, um, they gave, they gave me a head start. So with that help and the little money I accumulated coming home helped me for the, you know, time being that I land me a job working out here and, um, a Great Dane. And then like, and to be honest, man, that like, it really, really helped me because I was able to provide for myself, you know, pay my rent, pay my, you know, like bills and my, you know, because those things you think about when you went outside, because I mean on the inside, because when I was in there, when I left the streets in the beginning, I was 16 years old. My mama paid all my bills. That's why you had no experience. You know, I want to pay my bills, paid the bills, you know, I probably was, you know, doing other stuff in the streets or whatever, but So, I got help from people that's been out here in the community, and they embraced me,

Omar: 17:38

man. Hey man, you know what? We're gonna talk about one of those persons right now. Uh, Chance, you wanna tell us, how did you get involved in uh, in prison ministry, you know?

Chance: 17:48

Uh, I got I got involved because of my wife, she started going and I kind of just got curious and wanted to go, I guess, see what it was about. I mean, you think about the re entry prison, well let me back this up, when you think about prison, you think about like what you see on TV, you know, nothing good. Um, so I wanted to go out there and see it and when I first walked in there, I think I met Paul, he gave me a bottle of water, and then I met Ronnie, um. And I met a couple other guys in there and I liked it. Um, I've gone back a couple of times. I went to Bible study with my wife a few times. Um, I'm actually in the process of trying to get the paperwork done so I can get a badge. So I can go whenever I want to go. Uh, that's what my wife has because with my job, it's hard, it's hard for me to call chap and say, Hey, I want to go tonight. And I could possibly maybe not make it, you know, um, I went and did, uh, some Bible study down in Peoria. At the, the work facility down there, um, it definitely changes your perspective on people like it makes you more open to see people for who they are, not for what they've done. Um, it's a, it's a good thing. They're doing good things out

Omar: 19:09

there. Yeah. Definitely. Like it changes the perspective, right? I guess. No, no. Before going, like, um, you know, I know you mentioned sometimes your job, but what exactly do you do out here and all? What, how, how, how does life look for you?

Chance: 19:21

Uh, I, I work for a farmer and me and my wife have some cattle of our own. Um, life out here consists of feeding cattle and, and going to work and. Hanging out with my wife and my kids and, you know, just, just doing the, the farm life. Some days they're long, but you get to look out the window all day and see everything God created.

Omar: 19:48

Yeah.

Chance: 19:48

So,

Omar: 19:49

I know we came on a good day. You were spreading on manure out there, right? Fertilizing the ground. God created that too, right? Yup. Yup. You gotta help the crop grow. But, you know, it's crazy how, how everything serves a purpose, man, even like that. You know, it fertilizes well, you know, like, so it's just amazing now, um, you know, like I could ask you like, like, um, growing up, family, friends, did you ever, anybody close to you ever experience, you know, the prison system? Well, I guess what's your, your personal experience prior to serving in prison ministry? With anybody, I guess, you know, And on that side, as far as like

Chance: 20:25

I had a, had a aunt that served, went to prison for a while. Um, I never got to see her. I was kind of young when that happened. Um, I got in my fair share of trouble when I was a kid. I spent a couple nights in jail, uh, for doing dumb things that I, I shouldn't have been doing. Uh, after doing that a couple times, I realized that ain't where I wanted to be. Um, I I met my wife and she probably, she probably straightened me out. I mean, we were a little wild on our own, but you know, she kept me from doing things I shouldn't be doing. Um, so yeah, I guess, and I had a, a good friend, he was kind of in and out of jail a lot, he went to prison a couple of times and got out and he didn't go back and he didn't get out and he didn't go back. Um, so I guess, yeah. Yeah.

Omar: 21:22

Yeah. Like seeing that. Yeah. Okay. Got it. Now, um, now, now, now going uh, to, to, to Kewanee you wanna talk about your experience? I, I, I know now, right now we were here with, uh, Fred. Like, what, what are some of these connections that I, I guess not only in there, but even to have people to your home. Could, could you take us through that, uh, transition, you know, like meeting these guys in there and then I guess after, um, me, uh, meeting them, seeing how they are like actually opening up your home.'cause it's one thing to go visit somebody in prison. And it's another, I think it's a huge thing to open up your doors. You know, you could, tell us, I guess the mindset or what, what got you to, to this, I

Chance: 21:59

guess. Um, I would say in the beginning, I wasn't real sure, like we kind of thought we'd keep it, you know, just a prison, you know, see the guys when I got out, um, we weren't really sure about our home just cause of our kids. And, you know, um, my, my, my. My buddy here, Freddy, like my wife said, she, uh, asked him to go to church and I didn't know who this guy was. We pulled up, he come walking out and I was like, I know

Omar: 22:31

people can't see because he's sitting down, but he's a pretty, how, how, how, how, how tall are you brother? I'm 5'11 5'11 but he's pretty, pretty stocky, right? Yeah. He come walking out the door

Chance: 22:40

and I was like, he got in the car and shook my hand and we went to church and I don't know, he's, he's my brother, I, I love him. Hey. He's a, he's a, he's a good dude,

Omar: 22:53

man. Am I? I'm, I'm, I'm proud of him. Yeah. What are some of the things you've seen personally, like from him, you know, like what, what do you see in him now?

Chance: 23:01

Like, I guess he's, he's just straight. He goes to work every day. He, he goes to church with us every Sunday, sit right beside each other. Um, he's always helping in the community. He was actually at a church earlier tonight, helping out, um, what was that for? Um, they,

Fred: 23:18

they raise, raise money for kids. Go to camp. Nice. Yeah, so I was helping them, uh, organize some stuff that I, I ain't gonna lie, I be doing a lot of stuff that, what they say? Unsung heroes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I be doing a lot of stuff. I don't really be, you know.

Omar: 23:37

Gotcha. Like, you, you the one, uh, I don't be boasting about. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but hey, we, we need to know, man.'cause uh, uh, I mean, you know, the people need to know too.'cause uh, oh. Uh, because the, the reason I say that is'cause you know, like. A lot of people think, man, these guys that you, you did almost, man, almost 30 years, you know, like you think somebody's going to come out and just be hardened, but, you know, just by you sharing that story of that teacher and you doing this thing with the kids, I guess, uh, what, what helped you keep, I guess that, um, that I'll say that you have to be, you have a tender heart, man, like a loving, caring heart in order to do some of the things that you're doing. So, uh, what, what allowed you not to get like hardened completely? You know, to be able to do what you're doing now as far as serving in the community, serving in church? Um, well,

Fred: 24:23

to be honest, um, me wanting to like, get back, play a part in me just taking someone's life, man. You, um, I took some, I took something from the world, from family, you know, and you know, I, you know, I know I can't. Bring that person back, but if I could help somebody That's that's I just feel that's the need for me to do. This is something I found my heart to do Genuinely is catching kids selling lemonade. I'll pull over Bought some money here No, y'all get y'all money You know, I'm just giving back man Hey, man, that's I took away I took away I took away I took away. So now it's time for Get back, you know, some people see the outside and then they get to know me like, man, he's a good dude.

Omar: 25:26

Yeah. I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, yeah, they can't be quick to, to judge a book by its cover. You know,

Fred: 25:33

people, a lot of people, you know, they be quick to judge. You know, they sit and talk. They were like, well, I took him for something else. No, right, right. You know, you know, That's why I love, that's why I love Chance Michelle. much because they actually gave, they actually like, not only opened their house to me, but they actually gave me the opportunity to like, meet their kids, man. You know, their kids, you know, I love their kids, you know. Um, I can come here anytime I want. The door's always open. You know, uh, and there's just stuff like that, man. They see what I do. Yeah, yeah. You know. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do nothing man, I just try to keep positive, you know, work, go to church, you

Omar: 26:27

know. You know, I interviewed two guys from Louisiana, they were both in Angola, both of them were lifers, they weren't supposed to get out. One of them got out through a change in the law and the other one got out cause the, I think the sheriff or whoever it was, somebody went and vouched for him. In front of the court, but he, he, he now tries to help guys get out and as I was doing interview with him, he said one thing, he's like, man, like I don't go to speak for everybody like to get out. He's like, man, there's some guys that shouldn't be getting out. So he says, he asked himself this question before he vouches for somebody, he's like, can I trust them to be my next door neighbor? You know? Can I trust them to say, Hey man, I'm going to be out of town. Can you keep an eye on my wife and my kids? You know, that's, that's, that's my, uh,

Fred: 27:19

it's funny. You

Omar: 27:20

say, go, go ahead. Yeah,

Fred: 27:21

we was at, uh, uh, we was at, uh, we was at, uh, we was at, uh, in Princeton.

Chance: 27:28

Oh, at, uh, uh,

Fred: 27:30

county fair. Oh yeah. We was at the county fair. Uh, we, I was at the, we had the cattle show, you know, I came through, you know, showing off the cattle and everything. And Tyson come pick you up. Yeah, Tyson came and got me. And um, they had, you know, little amusement, little amusement, little amusement park rides, you know, roller, little roller coasters and stuff like that. So, Lilly, their daughter, and Tyson, their son, uh, Lilly was like, Come on, Freddie, come on. Every time I come around, she's like, if it's something, with some activity going on, she try to pull me by the arm. Come on, come on, come on. So, they like, alright, y'all get to go with Freddie. You know, and it's stuff like that. You know, he trusts me enough to know that I won't let nothing happen to his daughter. You know, or his son, you know. And he said it out loud, like, she's safe with Freddy. Nobody gonna mess with her. He, cause he know it's true. Ain't nobody gonna mess with her.

Chance: 28:28

I told Billy, I said, uh, Your first boyfriend don't have a deal with me. He's got a deal with Freddy. Billy just looks at me, I said, I'm serious. Freddy says it's okay then. Um, that's That's so bad. Now, Freddy, Freddy's like a brother. I sometimes, we don't talk every day, but we normally talk a couple times a week. Okay, gotcha. You know, sometimes we get busy, he gets busy, it just, you know, but I've always told him, you know, if he's having trouble calling me, it's same for me. I mean, it's nice to have somebody to rely on, you know, and me and Freddy can be straight with each other, no judgment, you know? And that's what you need. So. Gotcha.

Omar: 29:08

And any, um, anything? Anything that we didn't touch on that you guys wanna talk about, you know what I'm saying? Like, anything that I'm missing that's important, I guess, to highlight, maybe the community? I feel like,

Fred: 29:18

y'all, I feel like just having this, um, this conversation, just being, you know, coming, you taking the trip to actually get to know us and hear some of the stories from the guys that's out here, that's, that's great, man, because, you know, like Ronnie, Ronnie spoke on with being in Chicago, it's such a large platform, you know, get cloudy, you don't be able to see everybody. So this town, they don't even really understand the magnitude of like civility that, you know, there's been show hospitality that's been show to the guys coming, you know, to this community from that situation and you taking a trip and sharing some light on it, man, that bad. Is a blessing, man. Oh yeah, for sure. Man. You know, everyday walking Walmart, man. When they see you, you know, we bump into, you know, staff from the facility and they see us and from there to, and then they like, wow, you guys, you doing great. Yeah.

Fred (2): 30:27

Yeah. Well, you met one, that's kind of fair. Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. I don't wanna talk about her

Fred: 30:31

though. I don't wanna give her, I don't wanna give her no shine. No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? Yeah. Sometimes you gotta let people stay there and then she, that person. I just wanted to

Omar: 30:42

let her judge and stay in that place. No, right, right. No, but you know that's awesome, man, to hear that. You know, whether, you know, good or bad, whether interaction, but for you to be able to be on the other side of the fence now, you know what I'm saying, is real. You know, I never had that experience because obviously, you know, I was downstate myself, but going to Chicago, I never had a chance to. So that's got to be you, you unique, right? I mean. Of course. Of

Fred: 31:10

course. Of course. Um, when you, when you, uh, when you go and you be looking for some eggs and you see Sarge and blah blah blah and you like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know it. You know, back in the day, people be like, yeah, I might be the person that you see in the grocery store. Now, it's for

Omar: 31:26

real. Yeah,

Fred: 31:27

you

Fred (2): 31:28

know,

Fred: 31:29

man. But, um, coming from that facility, man, and a lot of the There. I don't even lie to you, man. The majority of the staff there was respectful. They treated us like humans. Um, you know, you gotta let the yeses be your, the yeses and the nos be the nos. You know, you can't let you know the situation. Some people try to take advantage of the situation because you have someone that's carrying hard and genuinely want to just treat you like a human being and they take you for granted. Um, yeah, but for the most part, for. As far as myself, um, my experience being in Life Skills, man, was educational. I learned a lot about myself being there. Um, I met my fiancée when I was there. Um, I met Ronnie while I was there. I met Paul while I was there. I met Mike while I was there. I met Bobby while I was there. You know, happy. Um, my baby brother. Um, Big Sam, you know, it's a lot of guys, uh, that's come from that situation. It's a part of this community that's actually adding to the community and actually helping. And, you know, it's good to see guys flourish. Especially, you know, we all not, we not perfect, you know, there's going to be some hurdles in the road, but when you got people like Chance the Machine. GL is there to support you.

Omar: 33:17

Right? It's dope. Amen. One of my goals and my prayers is to one day get these podcasts behind bars, you know, because the guys got tablets in there nowadays, you know, they'll be able to access Yeah. So we'll put a little something more positive in there. Big, big, big huge, you know, but um, I guess one of the questions, what would you say to somebody that's in there? Well, what's the importance about surrounding? I know you mentioned a lot of these great guys that you met in there that helped you get on this. What are some things they could do to prepare? Because unfortunately, a lot of guys only prepare to come out when they're short. Whether it's like six months, I don't know when that that program starts, but what could they do to begin to prepare and the importance of surrounding yourself with some guys that are actually trying to do something good or steer you in the right direction, you know?

Fred: 34:07

You know, uh, first of all, you know, you gotta be prepared to shake off the naysayers. Cause, there's gonna be a lot of people that try to put doubt in your mind. You know, want you to go a certain way. Um, and want you to have the same mindset as them. But you gotta stick to who you are as a person, as an individual. And then you know, carve out your own lane. meaning You gotta like Really, really get focused on what you got to do, even if it comes to like writing down your goals, writing down what you want to do before you get there, um, and just make a plan. Build relationships with people that's going to, you know, be a positive part of your life, not a negative part of your life. So when you get to where you're going, them people that you was building relationships with, they be there for you. And, for me, like coming home. You got a lot of people coming home now, and they hear about the experiences that I'm having out here, and they like, you know what, I done heard some guys tell me, like man, I heard about what you was doing, how you been doing this, how you been doing that, and you the reason why I came out this way. And, you know, I can't, I, me personally, I can't be in front of the facility to come pick them up, but my vehicle is a form of transportation if you need me to take you anywhere, just, you know, gonna make sure you're productive. Member in the society or just helping out in Kewanee because I don't want us to be looked at as a problem in the community. I want us to be looked at as actually helping solve things in the community.

Omar: 35:51

Amen. You know, uh, what do you call it, uh,

Fred: 35:54

asset to the community. Yeah, of course. Right. Even if it's, you know, helping, you know, people with furniture getting moved or, you know, posted, you know, fences around farms. You know,

Omar: 36:13

you know, uh, you know what I'm coming from Chicago. I know you mentioned or and just moving around.

Fred: 36:17

I got a whole thing. I got the video. I can't me and my friend, man. The Mario rest in peace, man. We two guys from Chicago on the farm and we are here on the farm. You guys recorded it. Where's that? Is that YouTube or something? No, no, no, no, no, no. I ain't got no social media. Oh, okay. Okay. That's one of my strong suits. I can't home. I didn't have no social media. I ain't drink. I ain't smoke. So, I just wanted to keep everything gotta be like minimized so I could just stay focused on what I had to stay focused on as far as like, um, just my goals and preparations as far as like living and staying free, man. I ain't want to get engulfed in certain things that come with social media. I don't want to be, um, a part of certain things, man. Yeah, so I, I kept it, you know, PG, man. Yeah, no, it's

Omar: 37:13

good, man. You know what I mean? That's how I stay humble. Okay, no, yeah. Well, what are some of the benefits, being like a city guy, what's some of the benefits being out in the country? Um, being a city

Fred: 37:23

guy? You know, you, you think everything is slow to you. So you, like with me coming from where we come from, I see things unfold differently. I could see things unfold before some people seeing my fold because how slow the pace is. But it's a good thing because I'm like, Oh, hold on. Let me tear down this block, you know, let me, uh, make a better decision or whatever. But, um, it's a lot of advantages, man, being out here, just, but you gotta want, you gotta want to be a part of the solution, man. You know, you coming from, if you come from the inside, especially from like the light skill, um, and you want to like really do something. Um, positive, it's stuff out here for you to do. You can get caught up in, you know, foolishness anywhere, even in Kewanee, I'm sure there's places where you can go and be like, you know, oh wow, this is weird. But to me, being here is more positive things than it is negative things. You know, if you gotta go look for the negative things, then, you know, it lets you know about how much positive stuff going on. Yeah,

Omar: 38:55

I mean, that's good, huh? I was like, you know, everywhere you go, it's on the wrong wire, it's coming up, got to knock on

Fred (2): 39:01

your door. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, you, you one step, one step at a time, yeah, you know, so. Most time when he's coming out, I say, Freddy, you got to bring your farm shoes, cause we're going to do something, you're going to get dirty. Yeah, yeah, you know that. My farm shoes are Air Force 1. That's what I was about

Chance: 39:17

to ask that, but, I got some, I got some old Air Force 1. He's even come out, we've took him to side by side, went in the pasture, and he's helped us round cows. Up and you know, he, yeah. Take him out on the boat and stuff with us. And he, uh, you had swim? Oh, yeah. Until we went on the boat. Yeah. He was standing on the back of the boat. You never swam before, like before that? No, he had, but it'd been a long time. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My first

Fred: 39:43

half

Chance: 39:43

swimming was with him on the boat. Oh yeah. He's like, I'm gonna jump in. And he jumps in and he just, he takes off. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Don't go too far. Yeah. I was with no vest. Just, yeah, no

Fred: 39:53

vest. Yeah. I, I jumped in, fish touched here or something. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't want to get back in the water. Well, why is that? There was something in there? Yeah, it felt like something touched me.

Chance: 40:02

It was a storm that day. Was it a Jason Voorhees, was it? Yeah. My wife and my kids and Freddy, we were all hooded. There's gotta be a

Fred: 40:10

pink flamingo, bro. No, it was a

Chance: 40:12

horse. It was a unicorn. A unicorn. Floating. We all hid in our It started storming when we was on the river. So we all held towels and stuff over our head and got under the canopy and we just, we just chilled waiting for the storm to pass. So.

Omar: 40:31

Yeah. I was just going to ask you, how patient are you teaching people the farm life, man? I'm sure for somebody for the city, it ain't easy, you know, to transition, man. So how, how is that for you to, I guess, so show somebody the ropes as far as what to do out here,

Chance: 40:46

man. Well, Freddie just kind of follows the lead. Yeah. Um. Freddie's really the only one that's ever really come and helped us. Um, he's helped us work house. He come out here and help him help to spill fence. My, uh, my boss is out here and our Freddie walked over and picked this big post up and started walking over and my boss, he started pointing. He's like, you know, he's

Omar: 41:07

like, yeah,

Chance: 41:09

he's,

Omar: 41:10

he's good help. Oh, that's good. Hey, what would you say? Somebody that's going to watch this and maybe they're having a, they're, they're trying to get involved. You know, what would you say?

Chance: 41:24

I'd say you gotta try it. You won't know until you try it and I think it would probably blow your mind what you see once you go in there. You know, just they're just friendly and I mean they want to talk to you. They want to know about you and they'll tell you about them. Um, I went on Christmas Eve this year and that's it. This guy walked to me. His name was Terrence, right? He's got a gold tooth. Um, I didn't know his name. He told me, but there's so many people telling you names, you can't, you can't remember him. That's one thing that stuck out in my mind. Um, he asked Michelle about me sometimes. Um, he just walked up and started talking to me. Uh, he's, he's a nice guy. I've met some other guys in there, um, through the Bible study. It's just, it's interesting just to listen to them like Michelle. When we'd go in there, she, when she started the Bible study, she'd say, what are you guys thankful for this week? And you know what they're thankful for and what we're thankful for are two different things. You know, they're just, they're thankful that we come in there and talk to them, you know, and have a church service with them. You know, they're just, they're just happy to be there. And it's, it's

Fred (2): 42:42

worth going.

Chance: 42:43

It's worth trying. I'm glad we did it. So like I said, I was, I was spectacled when my wife first. Yeah. Decided to do this. Yeah. And then, then you've

Omar: 42:52

seen the

Chance: 42:53

And my wife, if she does something, she either does it 100 percent or she don't do it at all. So I, after she went, I knew it was going to be 100%.

Omar: 43:02

Oh, man, that's awesome. You know what, man? guys, man. I'm glad I got to be a part of this, man. I see the, the, the genuine, the genuineness and the relationship and the interaction, man. And it's, it's, it's awesome to see what, what's happening out here, you know? Uh, but, uh, man, any, any final words? Before we close out, you know, maybe something we didn't get a chance to talk about that you want to highlight, you know, or, or, or share, you know,

Fred: 43:25

I'm good, man. I appreciate you taking your time coming out here and sharing light on the good things that's happening in the guy's lives is coming home. Because, you know, the recidivism rate, you know, it is the other side of it, you know, a lot of people don't see it, man. And this guy is like a monster. So guys like Ronnie, guys like Paul and Mike and Chico and you know, a lot of, a lot of people that's not even spoke on this actually helping, you know, shout out to being, man, shout out to being, man, being for him to him and big shout out for him, man, for changing, helping change people's lives.

Omar: 44:15

How did he, uh, I know you give him a shout out, man, how did he, uh, impact you personally?

Fred: 44:19

Um, well, Ben, Ben, um, he like, he like a quiet person, man. He, he one of them people that you don't even know in a, like in a room until you, you speak, until you speak and then you're like, wow, um, but I don't talk to him as often, um, but he actually tried to, you know, sell me my first vehicle when I came home and he, you know, he have, he have. He got an avenue to where he able to get cars and do whatever he gotta do and he opened up the door for us to where, look, I'm going to get you a vehicle, I'm going to put you in the vehicle. I don't want nothing from you, but what I paid for it. And you know, he not trying to take advantage of the guys coming home, not putting guys in housing. He remodeling, like buying properties, having the guys rebuild. It's probably for us to live in, like, giving back in ways, man, that's, you know, unimaginable, man. So, big shout out to Ben, man. Man,

Omar: 45:30

man, man. Thank you for saying that. People need to hear that, man. I don't need to let you have a car

Fred: 45:36

when you're in your apartment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, that too. Yeah, that too. Like, my, um, my, you know, my car had went down and, um, my brother, you know, he, he was like, I, I, I, I, I, I get it working, but we got to try to get you a vehicle until, you know, and, and Paul and Ben, man, they, they come through for me. But he, he, one of the people that's like quietly there for us, even when you don't think, or you don't, you know, ain't nobody there like being got your back. He just wants you to do something positive and productive. So it sounds like

Omar: 46:14

with him, his actions speak louder than words, man. that's right. Yeah. That's what's

Fred: 46:18

more important, man. Yeah. I didn't go. I didn't go without my vehicle.

Chance: 46:22

I was kind of the vehicle because otherwise I was going to get up and go in and take him to work in the morning. Yeah. That was going to be early. Yeah.

Omar: 46:30

Uh, what about you, Chan? Any final words to get ready to close out? And I know, I know you volunteered to close down the prayer afterwards too. So,

Chance: 46:37

uh, one thing I wanted to say about Freddie, you can be driving down the street and he'd see somebody that's gotten out and he'll whip his car out and pull in and jump out of the car and be like, Hey man, he didn't. You know, just you need anything, you know, here's my phone number, you know, he, he's, he always calling the guys, you know, check on them. Sometimes they don't answer. Sometimes they don't want help. You know, you can only help you once. Um, but he's just, he's definitely, uh, he does good for people that are getting out because he can, he can resonate with them better than, you know, we can, he knows what it was like being in and what it's like being out, you know, um, He's just doing good things. And when he comes in church in the morning, you just like everybody that knows him, sees him, you know, he's got a smile and he comes up and shakes your hand and gives a hug, you know, uh, there's an older lady in church, uh, Becky, every Sunday, she's got to come get Freddie hug. She just,

Fred: 47:39

she

Chance: 47:41

just thinks the world of Freddie. Everybody thinks the world of Freddie. I don't, he's my brother,

Omar: 47:46

but I just wanted to say that. I don't know, thanks for sharing that, uh, and I. You know you said about, there's another side to the recidivism, right, right, like the success stories, man. Yeah, the recidivism,

Fred: 47:56

man. The recidivism, right, man. There's another side to it, you know? There's another side, this side. Yeah. The side of people staying out, the side of people giving back. The side where, you know, you got people like Chance Michelle and all the people that's investing their time into us to help us stay home and to add to people's lives and to create, you know, different, uh, better lives. It's got a foundation for people that's coming home and guys like Ronnie who's open up, you know, carving lanes and doing things that we don't even see that he doing but yeah, man,

Omar: 48:30

I believe god is definitely on the move in the prisons. Uh there's a pastor. He said there's uh what does he call it? There's a A nation behind bars, you know, like, uh, that, that, uh, the guy's going to use, man, to, to, to turn the world around, man. It's just that

Fred: 48:46

we just gotta let everybody come home at a certain time.

Omar: 48:49

Yeah, so now this is, I'm, I'm, man, like I said, I'm glad I was able to be part of this conversation. It truly blessed me. Chance, you want to close out on a prayer?

Chance: 48:56

I'll try. Dear Jesus, thank you for bringing us together tonight. Thank you for letting us do this podcast, and thank you for Ronnie and Omar and Freddie. I just want to say to my wife, Kina, my kids, um, just help people be more humble and, uh, be more open to going into the prison system. Uh, everybody deserves a second chance in life, um, and just help people bring that to them. And, uh, it's going to storm later tonight, so please watch over everybody and help everybody be safe for that. And, uh, just help us be more like you, Jesus, in Jesus name, amen.

Omar: 49:33

Amen, amen. And with that, we're going to get ready to wrap up, uh, Matthew 4, 16 reads, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light and upon those who sat in the region and the shadow of death, light has dawned alongside my guests, Fred and chance. My name is Omar Calvillo and we are wrong too strong.