Navigating the return to every-

day life for formerly incarcerated 
individuals is no small feat. Youth 
Justice Fund (YJF), a non-profit 
based in Ypsilanti MI, works 
to assist formerly incarcerated 
youth reacclimating to society. 
Executive Director Aaron Kinzel, 
who spent 10 years in the prison 
system, aims to provide mental 
and financial support to get for-
merly incarcerated individuals 
back on their feet. 

YJF’s 
website 
thoroughly 

explains the mission, stressing 
healing, reconnection and educa-
tion as core values and ultimate 
goals for each client and the non-
profit at large. Within these val-
ues, there exists a commitment 
to securing housing, employment 
and transportation. Financially, 
YJF aims to assist clients with 
paying their rent, DTE or water 
bills, as well as provide them with 
food. For those with small chil-
dren, YJF looks to provide dia-
pers, formula or other necessities. 

Last year, founder Deborah 

Labelle led a retreat in Dexter, 
Michigan for the Incarcerated 
Children 
Advocacy 
Network, 

ICAN, and YJF clients. YJF cli-
ents 
participated 
in 
outdoor 

activities, such as fishing and 
swimming 
— 
activities 
they 

couldn’t experience as youth in 
the criminal justice system. Not 
only were there recreational 

activities, but the retreat also 
focused on trauma therapy and 
discussing mental health to pro-
vide YJF clients with support, a 
sense of community and under-
standing among each other. YJF 
is currently seeking $5,000 to 
lead another retreat this year.

The stigma surrounding peo-

ple with a criminal past in tan-
dem with the pandemic has led to 
a rapid decrease in available jobs 
and has made finding employ-
ment even more difficult for YJF 
clients and returning citizens 
everywhere. These challenges 
have made YJF’s efforts to help 
clients apply for unemployment 
insurance among other govern-
ment benefits within the past few 
months even more influential.

Struggling to reintegrate 
Pat Bates, a member of YJF 

who met Kinzel at a panel a week 
out of prison, reflected on his 
own 
experience 
transitioning 

back home and the support he 
received from YJF. 

“What I didn’t want to do was 

come home and be selling drugs 
or committing crimes or any-
thing like that, but I also didn’t 
want to be somebody’s slave,” 
Bates said. “With Aaron and the 
Youth Justice Fund they found 
me opportunities. The biggest 
resource that I’ve had since I’ve 
been home is the Youth Justice 
Fund.”

Since Bates’s return home, YJF 

has provided him immense aid, 
including a car that has made his 
career pursuits more feasible. 
Additionally, Kinzel has pushed 
Bates to pursue higher education 
beyond the Associates degree he 
earned prior to his incarceration. 

“[Bates] had an associates 

degree while he was in the sys-
tem, but I’m going to make sure 
I push Bates further because 
he’s a smart individual,” Kinzel 
said. “When he comes to a bump 
in the road I can say, ‘Bates, you 

know what, steer a little left, this 
is what I did.’ And if he needs 
resources I can connect him with 
people, give him a little financial, 
whatever he needs to make sure 
that he keeps climbing that hill.”

Bates explained that without 

support and resources, many 
returning citizens resort to com-
mitting crime for the sake of sur-
vival. Kinzel admitted that, upon 
his return, he considered robbing 
people while struggling to accli-
mate to society. 

“The one thing about people 

who come home (from prison) 
is that we are very proud, but 
that pride can get us into trou-
ble because we don’t have these 
resources 
or 
opportunities,” 

Bates said. “So we might go take 
another pass, so to speak.” 

Kinzel elaborated, emphasiz-

ing that in many communities 
with high rates of crime and pov-
erty, there are few to no resources 
to help former inmates get back 
on their feet. 

“We know these communities, 

we know what it’s like living in 
poverty, living in crime-ridden 
areas without opportunities or 
resources,” Kinzel said. “Coming 
home now all these years later, it’s 
been like a new prison experience 
in a weird way. When you go into 
prison you have to learn this new 
environment, you have to adapt. 
But then when you come home it’s 
almost like the same thing….You 
have to build a reputation, you 
have to make connections and 
network and (find) people who 
are on your team.”

This “new prison” experience 

that Kinzel described comes from 
an intense societal stigma against 
formerly 
incarcerated 
indi-

viduals. Kinzel highlighted the 
stark variation in mental health 
resources based on a communi-
ty’s affluence. In most privileged 
environments, Kinzel suggested 
that emotional support is far 

more accessible.

“A 16-year-old kid kills them-

selves in a privileged communi-
ty,” Kinzel said. “There’s all types 
of trauma counseling and therapy 
for them in high school. But an 
eight-year-old kid in the city of 
Detroit sees death and murder 
all the time and they get a teddy 
bear and maybe a t-shirt and bal-
loons.”

The essence behind Kinzel’s 

example is clear: Socioeconom-
ic divisions play a major role 
in access to healthcare and, by 
extension, strongly shape the way 
children learn to cope with trau-
ma and violence in adulthood. 

“We’re broken little boys in 

really tough communities and 
then we have to become hard-
ened, aggressive, hyper mascu-
line teenagers, to prove ourselves 
in a community where we had to 
survive,” he said.

Therein lies a central prob-

lem — a societal ignorance 
about where formerly incarcer-
ated individuals like Bates and 
Kinzel “come from.” This lack of 
understanding produces a sense 
of indifference toward civilians 
coming out of the criminal justice 
system and disregards the trau-
matic circumstances that might 
have led them into the system in 
the first place. 

The gap between socially con-

scious and unconscious individu-
als in regard to the prison system 
and larger American systems 
remains drastic. This persistent 
ignorance perpetuates a stigma 
that formerly incarcerated indi-
viduals are unworthy or lesser 
members of society, presenting a 
significant barrier for them when 
finding sustainable employment 
opportunities. 

Professional pursuits
The pervasive stigmas encoun-

tered by returning citizens are 
not only unfair, but also untrue. 
Incarcerated individuals often 

hold leadership positions during 
their sentences — which enforce a 
large variety of clerical and criti-
cal skills — but employers don’t 
value these experiences when 
they’re compared to applicants 
with a more traditional work 
background. 

“Just think about a guy in pris-

on who’s the man of the yard,” 
Bates said. “You might have one 
guy that was a law clerk, a parale-
gal in a law library, you got anoth-
er guy and he’s a 4.0 student in 
Jackson college, the only college 
they offer, and you might have 
another guy who was in the rec-
reation department and he was 
coordinating all types of events 
and activities, huge things that 
people out here get paid really 
good to do. That’s what I was. I 
was the rec official, I organized 
events and everything. But then 
you come out here and you’re just 
a piece of shit. You’re nothing. 
You were important in prison —
just think about the culture shock 
in that alone.” 

Without any structure in place 

to aid the return of formerly 
incarcerated 
citizens, 
Kinzel 

emphasized 
how 
important 

participation 
from 
businesses 

around Ann Arbor is. Employ-
ers like Phillis Engelbert, owner 
of the Lunchroom LLC and the 
Detroit Street Filling Station, 
have become a key resource for 
rehabilitative pursuits. Though 
small businesses should not be 
the backbone of these community 
efforts, their contributions can 
be incredibly impactful. Engel-
bert speaks openly of her pas-
sion for criminal justice reform 
through helping individuals with 
employment, accountability and 
rehabilitative spaces, and patrons 
of both her restaurants know the 
importance behind these prin-
ciples. 

“Phyllis is a prime example 

with The Lunchroom,” Kinzel 
said. “Maybe some of you have 
connections or family that might 
own a business — if they’re will-
ing to hire someone that’s been 
in the system, that’s a huge help. 
Or just taking donations at busi-
nesses too is another way. Or 
volunteers, interns, to just kinda 
get the word out that this is some-
thing that we need to build as a 
community.”

Engelbert has found incredible 

success in doing just that and her 
businesses are both financially 
stable and creating rehabilitative 
communities. 

“(My 
employees) 
are 
the 

brightest bright spot. Our crew 
is upbeat, professional, respon-
sible, caring and accountable to 
the business and each other. They 
are a pleasure to be around. It is 
because of their hard work that 
our business is succeeding,” she 
wrote in the Detroit Street Dis-
Batesch.

“I don’t want handouts for my 

clients,” Kinzel said. “But I want 
them to get a helping hand and 
that first step so they can become 
productive citizens and people 
that are community members.” 

Of course, money is what pays 

the bills, and returning citi-
zens often come away from the 
prison system with very little. 
But a network of volunteer posi-
tions, internships and connec-
tions make one person’s efforts, 
like Phyllis’, more sustainable in 
the pursuit toward community 
enrichment.

Performative activism
Both Kinzel and Bates empha-

sized the toxicity of performative 
activism, imploring University 
students, white allies and those 
from wealthy, Eurocentric-based 
backgrounds to invest in their 
communities and engage in on-
the-ground, tangible support in 
order to catalyze justice reform. 

“I think what a lot of people 

who come from privileged areas 
think is that they’re gonna come 
in and save the day,” Kinzel said. 
“You know, they throw a little 
money sometimes in the sys-
tem or they volunteer, and then 
they’re good. That’s not what’s 
gonna change society. We need 
people that are from privileged 
communities, we need all races, 
all 
ethnicities, 
all 
religions, 

everybody. We all need to work 
together to fight oppression.”

Kinzel emphasized the impor-

tance of letting those who have 
been oppressed guide our com-
munities in the right direc-
tion. He referred to a tendency 
amongst privileged individuals 
to participate in protest for the 
sake of performative signage and 
social media posts, only to return 

to the comfort of their homes an 
hour later, feeling as though they 
have changed the world. He pro-
posed more productive alterna-
tives, like engaging in mentorship 
programs, advocating for policy 
reform, 
challenging 
personal 

biases and prejudices and sup-
porting previously incarcerated 
individuals in their career search. 

“We need people that are 

gonna treat us like human beings, 
we need people that can be men-
tors. College students need to 
reach out to some of my partici-
pants and help them get navi-
gated.”

For college students looking to 

help returning citizens, Kinzel is 
constantly looking for mentors 
and tutors for his participants 
that are starting their higher 
education or working in the Ann 
Arbor or Detroit area. 

“But the thing is you have to 

actually come and be a part of 
these communities,” Bates said. 
“Come and dig in the trenches 
with us, get your hands dirty. I’d 
like to see more actual work than 
crying and shouting.”

University of Michigan stu-

dents or any residents in the Ann 
Arbor area can volunteer with 
the Youth Justice Fund by fill-
ing out this form or donate using 
their Gofundme page. 

Systems and cyclic oppression
Questions about prison reform 

and policing –– such as commu-
nity policing, police budgets and 
the prison industrial complex and 
their relationship to civilian soci-
eties –– have been at the forefront 
of many American minds follow-
ing an outburst of civil rights 
activism in recent months. Bates 
and Kinzel’s stories illuminate the 
urgency of disrupting the current 
system.

“(The 
prison 
system) 
was 

designed and is doing exactly what 
it was intended to do — which is to 
marginalize, oppress and control 
certain populations. And these are 
populations that are living in pov-
erty, populations that are predom-
inantly and desperately impacted 
as communities of color, these are 
people that to society, — at least 
the elites in the world and to poli-
ticians — are throw away people.”

Kinzel explained that the cor-

porate entity behind the prison 
system is what makes the opera-
tion so powerful — similar to slav-
ery, incarceration is economically 
“too big to fail.” As Kinzel puts it, 
“It’s the best experiment in United 
States history of business mal-
practice.” 

The University of Michigan is a 

community largely revered for its 
diverse intellect and passion for 
social justice; however, Kinzel dis-
cussed how it often feels as though 
universities exploit these commu-
nities and individuals for research 
purposes.

“I work part time for the Uni-

versity of Michigan as faculty 
on the Dearborn campus and I 
see it in Dearborn, I see it in Ann 
Arbor,” Kinzel said. “They want to 
do this research, they want to get 
the stories from people like myself 
and Bates, but they don’t invest 
much in us and those communi-
ties. It saddens me and angers me 
simultaneously. It doesn’t mean 
that there aren’t people with good 
intentions in these spaces, but I 
think overall universities very 
often become corporate bureau-
cracies and are just trying to make 
a buck off of us.”

In positions of privilege, such 

as our own — being the University 
student body — we must confront 
and actively work to uplift these 
communities, no matter how dis-
tant they seem from our lives at 
U-M.

Aforementioned 
opportuni-

ties to do so, such as tutoring, and 
serving as a prominent academic 
or professional mentor for these 
returning citizens, is one way to 
pursue helpful contributions. 

Bates and Kinzel remind us 

that we are capable of incredible 
change when we work as a collec-
tive.

“Let’s be real, the people in 

power are more wealthy.....if you 
don’t get wealthy white folks on 
board for justice reform, shit’s 
not gonna happen,” Kinzel said. 
“But we also need Black folks, we 
need Indigenous people, we need 
Latinx people, we need Hispan-
ics, and Arab Americans — every-
body’s gotta be sitting at this 
table. But, when I say we’re hold-
ing hands, it’s gotta be equal. But 
help us, those who have lived the 
oppressed experience, help us lead 
you in the right direction. Because 
we know the answers.”

The Youth Justice Fund:

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan In Color
6 — Wednesday, September 16, 2020 

By Jake Halperin
©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/16/20

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

09/16/20

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Monday, September 16, 2020

ACROSS

1 “We’ll tak __ o’ 

kindness yet”: 
Burns

5 Made, as a tunnel
8 “Oh, no you __!”

13 Item inspected 

with a flashlight, 
perhaps

14 Commute but not 

pollute

15 “We’re 

broadcasting” 
sign

16 Remaining
17 John McClane in 

“Die Hard,” e.g.

19 Have something
20 Ont. neighbor
21 Lips sound
22 B sharp 

equivalent

25 Weapon that 

stuns

28 Promise not to 

prosecute

30 Peeper
31 RSVP facilitator
32 Junk __
33 The Game of Life 

pieces

36 Wreck room?
37 Rely (on) for 

support

38 Kitchen tool brand
39 “You got it”
41 Brown or pale 

order

43 “The Jungle” 

author

47 Friend of Natalie, 

Jo and Blair on 
“The Facts of 
Life”

48 Indication of a 

Realtor’s success

51 Put back in the 

hot oil

53 Article in the L.A. 

Times?

54 Email address 

part

55 What an X may 

mean

58 Sea level shift
59 Con artist’s asset
60 Speaker’s spot
61 Homey lodgings
62 Don José in 

“Carmen,” e.g.

63 Vote of 

agreement

64 Showbiz “grand 

slam” comprising 
the awards found 
in the circled 
letters

DOWN

1 Allstate 

competitor

2 Bring up to 

speed

3 Govt. building 

flier

4 Vet’s patient
5 Enjoy, as a 

restaurant

6 Monroe plays 

one in “Some 
Like It Hot”

7 Birthstones, say
8 Daytime talk 

pioneer

9 Like much beer

10 Seductive 

aspect of the 
Force

11 Strategic math 

game

12 Sample
14 Ludlum spy 

Jason

18 24-hr. stores 

next to many BP 
stations

20 Wharf
23 Half of seis
24 Does as told
26 Sicilian smoker
27 Seacrest of 

morning talk

29 Mother’s Day 

month

33 Annoyed look
34 Trade show
35 Totally collapse
36 Hindu title
37 Island garlands
39 Short-stemmed 

brandy glass

40 App buyers
41 White gold et al.
42 Glasgow guys
44 Verdi’s 

penultimate 
opera

45 Lassie, for one

46 Emulating 

cavalry 
members

49 “That’s awful!”
50 A-bomb tryout
52 Movie guru 

with his own 
grammar

55 Sports rep.
56 To be paid
57 Vote of 

disagreement

58 Game no one 

wins

puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

WHISPER

100 Characters. 
Bare your soul.

SUDOKU

WHISPER

“i have the 
emotional 
fragility of a 
pinecone.”

“‘Health
 informed’ 
is a lie, they 
don’t care if 
students 
die!”

09/10/20

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

11 Home of Thule 

U.S. Air Force’s 

12 In great demand

24 __ dixit: assertion 

32 John’s instrument
33 Light-wave units

Disclaimer: Not all the writers of 
this piece are POC. Although MiC 

is an exclusively POC space, we 
felt this piece was important to 

share as a collaborative work as it 
upholds the standards, values and 

mission of MiC.

SAMANTHA NELSON,
CALLIE TEITELBAUM,
SAMANTHA CANTIE,
ANNIE KLUSENDORF &

 GABRIJELA SKOKO
MiC & Daily Staff Writers

A three person mission rehabilitating Southeast 
Michigan’s formerly incarcerated community

