01 · PREPARE
Before release
Referral, consent, records, risk and needs screening, identification, benefits, supervision, and arrival planning.
The authority of experience
“I was there. I understand.”
William Person served seven years in Illinois. He entered prison with a college degree, never joined a gang, and began to see how missing education, absent guidance, and the search for belonging could leave a man vulnerable to the wrong influence.
“You need a safe place to stay? I got you. You need food? I got you. You need to learn, work, care for your children, or talk with somebody who understands? I got you. Then we build a plan together—and you do your part.”
— William Person, Founder
One man could not tell time from the large clock on the wall. Another—a boxer—could not read the letters his girlfriend sent him.
Those moments moved William to approach the prison chaplain. Together, they helped men build literacy. When the boxer wrote his girlfriend for the first time in his own words, he returned crying. William cried with him. It was not a small victory. It was dignity.
William also counseled men through anger and heartbreak. When someone received a “Dear John” letter and damaged the shared telephone, William’s message was direct: your pain is real, but it does not give you the right to punish everybody else. Slow down. Think past the moment.
That combination—empathy, adult education, emotional responsibility, and community accountability—is the foundation of The Phoenix Concept.