After decades in prison, Georgia man helps others navigate life after release
A Clayton County commissioner spent Monday night listening to formerly incarcerated people talk about what is keeping them from a fresh start.
"We're coming home and doing the right thing," said Genesis Asiatic, who works with The Life Unit Prison Help & Support Services.
Commissioner Tashé Allen partnered with Barred Business for a volunteer membership meeting and listening session Monday night in Jonesboro. Organizers invited formerly incarcerated people, their families and community advocates to share their experiences, challenges and ideas.
Barred Business is a membership-based organization that helps formerly incarcerated people. The group said probation, fines, fees and job restrictions hold many people back after they return home.
The group also runs STABLE, a program that helps formerly incarcerated Black women with housing, leadership and financial stability. More than 213 women have completed the program, according to Barred Business.
Asiatic said he spent more than two decades in a Virginia prison. He entered at age 23, unable to read, and went on to earn his GED and become a tutor.
He said he grew up with his mother and grandmother and was looking for a male role model.
"But unfortunately, the ones I saw … actually in the streets and a lot of times I think that's what young men are looking for," Asiatic said.
One moment in prison still stays with him. Asiatic said he shared a cell with a young man who was headed in the wrong direction but chose not to speak up.
"But that individual went home and took the life of somebody that I knew," he said.
Asiatic now works with The Life Unit Prison Help & Support Services, which he said attends community events and helps people find jobs and resources to stay out of prison.
He said he did not know how to look for a job online when he returned home. People leaving prison need to be patient with themselves, he said.
Asked what he would tell his younger self, Asiatic did not hesitate.
"Don't do it," he said.
He encouraged young people to consider how their choices will affect their lives, their families and those around them.
People interested in joining Barred Business or volunteering can sign up through the group's website.
