JEFF GERRITT: A model for making a new life March 27, 2006

Ed Holsey could have easily become a statistic instead of a success, after spending five years in prison for delivering small quantities of cocaine. Out on parole in 1994, Holsey, now 38, of Southfield, was washing dishes at a Coney Island. He got into a beef with the manager, who yanked him by the shirt. Holsey wanted to hit him but he knew that, on parole, fighting would land him back in prison. He ate his pride and walked. It was a tough but smart decision. Holsey finished his parole and now owns a Papa Romano's at 7 Mile and Livernois that employs six young people.

Former inmate Ed Holsey, 38, of Southfield works in his own Papa Romano's on Livernois, north of 7 Mile. In back is Mark Gunn, 19, of Southfield. (RICHARD LEE/Detroit Free Press)

Fortunately, the agencies that run programs for parolees are starting to use people like Holsey. Last month, Project Safe Neighborhoods had Holsey speak to 50 parolees at a "Face to Face" meeting in northwest Detroit. He'll flip the script Friday and talk to policy makers and politicians at a prisoner re-entry forum in Southfield sponsored by United Way.

"The only way you can explain it to people is if you experienced it," Holsey told me last week, between taking phone orders for pizzas. "You can't talk about something you don't know nothing about."

Twelve thousand inmates go out on parole in Michigan every year, and nearly half come back within two years. If everyone who went out stayed out, Michigan could close half its prisons and save nearly $1 billion a year.

But it's no surprise that so many people go back to prison. With a felony record, finding a job is tough. So is resisting the temptation to get back in the game and make some fast money. Up until last year, the Department of Corrections gave parolees little help finding jobs and housing, overcoming drug abuse and readjusting to their communities.

Holsey admits that he had it better than a lot of people coming out of prison. He didn't have a drug or alcohol problem. He graduated from high school before he went to prison. He had a supportive mother and a few job contacts. He was released in the 1990s when finding work was easier. He also went home when he was still young enough to work three jobs, if that's what it took to survive.

A few months after he was released, Holsey found work at an auto detailer and a Hungry Howie's, making $5.25 an hour. Six months later, he got a production job at a plant, earning $7.50 an hour. After two years there, his pay went up to $11.50 an hour. He took a pay cut to work at Papa Romano's because he saw opportunities for growth. Eventually, he became a manager and then an owner.

His message to parolees is simple: Improving your life will take a lot of patience, hard work, and time. Holsey said he had to "lose the lust" for expensive cars, rims, jewelry and clothes. It's not that he didn't want those things after he got out of prison, but he was no longer addicted. He knew that the cost for getting them fast would be too high -- more time locked up.

Holsey also mentors the young people who work for him. Kids today get too little guidance from their parents, he told me. So peer pressure fills the void.

"Young men need an example," he said. "They need structure, or they fall prey to anything. Just following my friends is what got me into trouble. I didn't know how to stand on my own two feet."

Holsey knows he doesn't have all the answers, but I'm glad he's talking and people are listening.

"Ed is a personal inspiration," U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy, part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, told me. "He's a testament that people can make mistakes, rebound and be successful. He can inspire people with similar experiences to avoid the things that got them into trouble."

The Department of Corrections, Project Safe Neighborhoods and any group that wants fewer people heading back to prison ought to recruit 100 guys like Holsey. They're out there. Most successful ex-inmates -- and I've talked with many over the years -- would jump at the chance to give back. They could be matched with parolees as mentors, as was done in a successful program in Boston. Most parolees don't need another lecture from law enforcement about stiff federal penalities for gun crimes. They already know. It didn't stop them the first time, and it won't necessarily stop them now.

What might stop them is help getting a decent job, and some encouragement and advice on how not to hit a man when they're angry, or hit a lick when they're broke.

That's a message best delivered by people like Holsey.

For more information on Project Safe Neighborhoods, call 1-800-891-8881 or log on to www.psnworks.org.

JEFF GERRITT is a Free Press editorial writer. Contact him at gerritt@freepress.com, 313-222-6585, or in care of the editorial page.