Originally written for the Community Renewal Society award-winning 2005-2006 annual report.

IN THE LATE 80s, FELIPE MOFFET, FRESH OUT OF COLLEGE, APPLIED FOR, AND GOT, A JOB AS A WAREHOUSE WORKER WITH A SUBURBAN VIDEO MANUFACTURER, ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE COUNTRY. MOFFET QUICKLY CLIMBED HIS WAY UP THE COMPANY LADDER: WITHIN A YEAR AND A HALF HE WAS EARNING $32,000 A YEAR AND SUPERVISING HIS OWN DEPARTMENT. THEN HE WAS DOWNSIZED. CONFIDENT HIS BACHELOR’S DEGREE WOULD OPEN DOORS FOR HIM, MOFFET LOOKED FOR A NEW JOB. A YEAR LATER, WITH NO WORK PROSPECTS IN HIS IMMEDIATE FUTURE AND HIS UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS SET TO EXPIRE, MOFFET DECIDED TO MAKE MONEY THE WAY MANY OF HIS HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS DID: SELLING DRUGS.

And, now, like many ex-offenders, Moffet is ensnared in a system that often makes it difficult for these men and women to reenter society and find sustainable work. Community Renewal Society advocates on behalf of all of the region’s workers, pointing out disparities and fighting to change the practices that create unequal conditions.After being arrested “between eight and 10 times” Moffet decided that he would turn his life around; he now had two young daughters to care for. Getting back on track, though, hasn’t been easy.

Moffet quickly found work as a certified journey machine operator, earning $21 an hour, plus overtime, at a suburban company. But, when he applied for a supervisory position, the company ran a background check. Moffet had lied about his criminal record when he originally applied for the position so the company fired him. He rebounded quickly: a friend’s family owned a dry cleaner in south suburban Harvey and they hired him to manage it, but the business folded in early 2005.

Over the next 10 months, Moffet says he had “five to six” interviews where he was told he was a “frontrunner.” When asked if he had a criminal background Moffet was honest, following the advice of a caseworker who was coaching him through his job search. But he didn’t get any of those jobs. And he was frustrated. “I knew the longer I was unemployed, the closer I was to going back to selling drugs,” he says.

Moffet is working again. Currently, he’s a concessions operator for a major entertainment company in the city. Now 42, he works at one of the ballparks and makes $12 an hour. His old ambitions are still there: he wants to become a full time salaried manager with the company; that position comes with benefits. Until then, Moffet supplements his income by working part time at Soldier Field, where he earns $11 an hour for each Bears game he works.

“The type of jobs you have to take when you have a record, you can’t support a family on, says Moffet.

“I have an education,” he says. “Most of these guys [ex-offenders] don’t even have a high school diploma, so what options do they have? The system is kind of set up for us to go back and do the same things and make the same bad decisions.”