>>> BEING INCARCERATED AT THE AGE OF 18 MEANS WHEN YOU ARE RELEASED TO 24 YEARS LATER, THE PERSON WALKING OUT OF PRISON MAY STILL BE IN SOME WAYS A TEENAGER.

SOMETIMES IT LEADS TO AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.

OUR NEXT GUEST HAD SUCH UNEXPECTED JOURNEYS AND CHALLENGES BUT CONTINUED TO PUSH FOR A BETTER LIFE.

JOINING US IS TAWANA POPE.

AND NICK CRAYTON WHO WAS RELEASED FROM PRISON JUST LAST YEAR FROM THE LIFE SKILLS REENTRY CENTER IN Q1 ILLINOIS.

NICK AS WE MENTIONED YOU HAVE BEEN OUT OF PRISON FOR JUST OVER FOUR MONTHS AFTER HAVING BEEN INCARCERATED FOR 24 YEARS.

18 YEARS OLD WHEN YOU WENT IN.

HERE'S A LOOK AT WHAT SOME OF THE EARLY DAYS WERE LIKE FOR YOU.

>> THIS IS AWKWARD.

SITTING IN A RESTAURANT.

LIKE, I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER THE LAST RESTAURANT I WAS IN PRE-ARREST.

EMOTIONALLY I'M STILL AN 18-YEAR-OLD KIDS SO RIGHT NOW I'M KIND OF NERVOUS LIKE, ABOUT MYSELF.

EVERYWHERE I'VE BEEN I'VE BEEN ACCOMPANIED OR CHAPERONED.

SO OBVIOUSLY, IT'S THE WORK WEEK AND PEOPLE HAVE TO GO TO WORK.

THE OTHER NIGHT, I DON'T GET ANXIETY, BUT I STARTED FEELING MYSELF, THE ALARM GOING OFF IN MY BRAIN SAYING, IT'S TIME TO GO LOCKUP IT'S ALMOST 9:30.

YOU KNOW... BE AWARE.

THEN I HAD TO TELL MYSELF, THERE ISN'T A COUNT TIME OR A GUARD OR OFFICER, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE IN THE HOUSE AT 9:30.

SO THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT I'M TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO RECONDITION.

BECAUSE THEY ARE EMBEDDED YOU KNOW?

>> SHIFTING MINDSET FOR YOU, NICK, HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ADJUSTING?

>> THANKS FOR HAVING ME.

I THINK I'VE BEEN DOING PRETTY GOOD.

A LOT OF MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE LIKE, YOU ARE MOVING PRETTY FAST YOU MIGHT WANT TO SLOW DOWN.

BUT FOR ME I'M JUST REBUILDING WHAT I SQUANDERED 24 YEARS AGO.

I THINK I'VE BEEN DOING PRETTY GOOD.

NOTHING HAS REALLY TRIPPED ME UP.

MAJORLY, YOU KNOW >> Translator: SMALL THINGS.

>> THINGS YOU ALL TAKE FOR GRANTED DAY-TO-DAY BUT IT'S BEEN PRETTY GOOD.

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HELPFUL SO I'M GRATEFUL FOR THAT.

>> WHAT DOES REBUILDING LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

>> FOR ME, GETTING MY DRIVERS LICENSE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE AT 42 YEARS OLD.

THEY WERE LIKE, HOW HAVE YOU NEVER HAD A LICENSE?

I HAD TO BE FORTHCOMING AND SAY, I WAS INCARCERATED.

SO PEOPLE WERE KIND OF TAKEN ABACK BUT THEY WERE UNDERSTANDING.

SO THINGS LIKE THAT AND UNDERSTANDING LIKE, HOW TO PAY FOR A CREDIT CARD.

INSURANCE, THE NORMAL DAY-TO-DAY THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LEARN AT 18, 21, PAYING RENT ONLINE.

SO ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE NEW FOR ME.

LIKE I SAID, I'M NOT PLAYING CATCH-UP BUT JUST REBUILDING THAT WHICH I'M BEHIND ON AFTER ALL THIS TIME.

>> TAWANA IN YOUR DOCUMENTARY YOU TELL THE STORY OF HOW YOU SPENT TIME IN AND OUT OF JAIL.

WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE LIKE IN JAIL AND HOW DID IT AFFECT YOU?

>> JAIL IS SOMETHING THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER.

THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US TO BE ON THIS PLATFORM.

IN AND OUT OF JAIL, AND HAVING CHILDREN BEING INCARCERATED IS A BIG IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE.

IT WILL ALWAYS HAVE THAT STIGMA OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND YOU WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

YOU HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION, AM I GOING TO STAY STUCK OR AM I GOING TO PUT ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER AND CONTINUE TO REBUILD TO CREATE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL BY CHANGING WHO I AM FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

>> WAS THE MOMENT YOU KNEW YOU NEEDED TO MAKE A CHANGE?

>> THE LAST TIME WHEN I WENT IN AND I SAID, GOD, IF YOU GIVE ME ABOUT A YEAR I'M NEVER COMING BACK.

BECAUSE I WAS IN THERE WITH A YOUNG LADY WHO HAD COMMITTED A MURDER.

THEY PUT ME IN THE CELL WITH HER.

I'M LIKE, OH, OKAY.

YOU HELP ME GOD AND I DON'T EVER WANT TO COME BACK YEAR.

>> TAWANA HERE'S A BIT OF YOUR DOCUMENTARY AS WELL .

TAKE A LOOK.

>> FOR ME THAT BREAKING POINT, IT WAS ME, SICK AND TIRED OF BEING TIRED OF DISAPPOINTING MY CHILDREN.

ONE DAY I WASN'T HIGH AND I LOOK AT THEIR FACE.

I SAW IN THEIR SOUL WHAT I WAS DOING TO THEM.

I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT EVERY TIME I GOT HIGH MY CHILDREN DID TOO.

EVERY TIME I GOT INCARCERATED MY CHILDREN DID TO.

I WAS REPEATING THE CYCLE THAT WAS DONE TO ME.

>> I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT CYCLE IF YOU WOULD.

YOUR EXPERIENCE GROWING UP THAT LED TO THE CHOICES YOU MADE?

>> I'M THE OLDEST OF 10 AND MY MOM WAS A FORTY-YEAR ATTIC.

I BECAME THIS PERSON THAT I DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR.

I'M THE MOM OF KIDS AND I HAD NEVER HAD A PREGNANCY.

A LOT OF THE THINGS I ENDURED AS THE OLDER SIBLING, HAPPENED TO DO THINGS TO MAKE SURE THEY ATE AND HAD THE THINGS THEY NEEDED.

AND PUTTING EVERYTHING THAT MADE ME ME ASIDE BECAUSE I HAD THESE CHILDREN I WAS LOOKING FOR.

IT WAS LIKE I HAD TO SHOW UP FOR THEM, IN SPITE OF HOW I FELT.

A LOT OF THINGS WERE BURIED INSIDE BECAUSE OF THIS DYSFUNCTIONAL PART OF THE FAMILY.

FAMILIES SAY THEY WILL BE THERE BUT WHEN THE TIME SHOWS UP, NOBODY'S THERE.

I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD SO, IT WAS LIKE I WAS JUST BY MYSELF TRYING TO FIGURE THIS THING OUT.

>> NICK, YOU WERE IN THE LIFE SKILLS CENTER.

WHAT HAS THAT MEANT FOR YOU AND HOW HAS IT HELPED SINCE YOU'VE BEEN OUT?

>> ENTERING INTO THAT EXPERIMENT, IT WAS SOMETHING NEW THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS WAS TRYING, THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN CORRECTIONS.

YOU HAVE WARDEN CARRUTHERS THERE WHO IS ABSOLUTELY AGGRESSIVE AND THEY TOOK A CHANCE.

I'M A CONVICTED MURDERER SO, THE CITY OF KEY ONE HE CHANGED THEIR LAWS SO THAT I COULD STEP OUTSIDE OF THE FACILITY AND GO INTO THE TOWN AND ACTUALLY HAVE A REAL JOB.

I WORKED FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND THAT EXPERIENCE REALLY CHANGED THE SCOPE OF EVERYTHING.

I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT RELEASE WOULD BE LIKE.

SO I THINK IMPLEMENTING MORE PROGRAMS LIKE THAT IN THE EXISTING FACILITY THAT WE HAVE, WOULD BE SO MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE THE RECIDIVISM RATE THAT YOU HAVE.

PEOPLE WOULD UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS TO COME HOME TO SOMETHING.

>> TAWANA YOU EARNED A MASTERS DEGREE IN JAIL, HOW HAS THAT BEEN HELPFUL FOR YOU AND WHAT YOU ARE DOING WITH YOUR LIFE TODAY?

>> VERY HELPFUL.

DURING THE TIME WHERE ME AND MY CHILDREN WERE TRYING TO REBUILD FROM THAT BROKEN PLACE, I HAD NEVER WORKED A JOB .

IT MADE IT KIND OF HARD TO HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.

GETTING MY MASTERS OPEN SO MANY MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ME.

NOW THAT I HAVE OBTAINED MY LS W AS WELL.

NOW THAT I'M WORKING IN A FIELD WITH HOMELESS MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE VETERANS, WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE ISSUES.

IT IS REWARDING.

YOU GO BACK TO THE PLACE WHERE GOD GAVE YOU THAT LIFELINE AND YOU GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE AND THAT'S HOW YOU KEEP GOING ROUND AND ROUND.

>> WE HAVE 30 SECONDS LEFT, NICK, HOW DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE A DIFFERENT PERSON TODAY THAN THE ONE WHO WAS INCARCERATED 24 YEARS AGO?

>> LOOK AT MY PERFORMANCE WHILE I WAS INCARCERATED.

SOME PEOPLE SAY PAST PERFORMANCE TELLS OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE.

YOU CAN LOOK AT THE THINGS I'VE DONE SINCE I'VE BEEN FREE.

OBVIOUSLY I'M NOT A TEEN ANYMORE BUT IF YOU BELIEVE IN PEOPLE CHANGING.

IF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE WHO AREN'T WHO THEY WERE 24 YEARS AGO, YOU HAVE TO GIVE US A CHANCE AND THAT COMES WITH TRUST.

THIS IS WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY STEPPING OUT AND HELPING THESE KIDS AND REBUILDING THAT WHICH WE STOLE.

>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.