Why WildHeartz Inc. ?

Dontrell is the youngest of 7 siblings, 2 siblings by me; his mother,  and 5 from His father who was incarcerated for much of Dontrell’s childhood. Dontrell was diagnosed with ADHD and Bipolar with mixed episodes and impulsive explosive behavior at the early age of 6. Because of his challenges to pay attention in class, Dontrell started having trouble in school early on, and was eventually kicked out of the school system by 14 years old. Due to the lack of teachers, and IEP interactive support training for children like Dontrell at the time, lack of my education about my son’s cognitive difficulties; Dontrell proved to be a challenge to raise by myself while my husband (Dontrell’s father) was incarcerated.

The Day I wish Never Happened

One summer day, after running in the house to “check in”, Dontrell and a handful of friends asked for a ride to the local park to shoot hoops, nothing out of the regular.  I dropped them off, about 15 minutes from our Southfield neighborhood home, with the usual Mom warnings of staying out of trouble and returning home on time.  Unfortunately, unknown to me, I dropped my son off that day and it changed his life forever. While shooting hoop at the park, Dontrell and his friends were approached by a young man and his wife. The young man who went by the name “Black” asks the boys if they “wanted to make some money”? And from that point on Black and his wife came up with a plan to use the naive boys. After convincing the young men that they would not get into any major trouble because of their ages, Black and his wife provided weapons, props, a getaway car and a full scale plan to rob local corner stores around the city. Using the boys, the diabolical couple would take the boys to a corner store, and under the direction of Black,would go into the store, armed with props and broken guns (all that Black and his wife could provide) and successfully robbed two stores. On the third run, Black awarded the boys with a couple of dollars each, a duffle bag full of cigarettes and tobacco products for them to sell, and a hotel room to hide out in. Nevertheless, during one of the robberies, one of the young men demanded a 

coveted IPhone from one of the corner store clerks. This ultimately led police right to the young men who were at the hotel. All four young men were arrested with all evidence in the hotel room, and with the help of surveillance cameras. Police obviously knew about Black and his wife after viewing cameras and seeing how he directed each robbery, driving the boys to each location, providing the props, holding the door for them to run in, and timing them, and providing the getaway driver (his wife) and car.

One of the worst things a mother dreads, is to receive a phone call from the police concerning their child. The “Hello this is Columbus Police, we need to speak to the parent of Dontrell” line will always be etched in my memory, first reaction is a sunken heart feeling, afraid to hear what’s next, and then a tense up to try to soak in what they’re about to say next. One of the scariest moments in any parent’s life, but to a parent of a black male, it just hits a little harder.  Ultimately word got back to Black that the boys were caught. Him and his wife immediately sprang into action, and attempted to rob yet another corner store. This time they didn’t have the youthful boys they depended on to help support their nasty drug habit. And after attempting to rob a store while his wife waited in the getaway car, Black was shot and killed by the store owner. Black escaped his prison fate through death, and his wife was charged for his murder; because state law states that if someone is killed while committing a felony, the accomplices will be charged with their murder. The wife is now serving a life sentence behind bars in an Ohio women’s institution.

All four boys were convicted of armed robbery and were sent to various homes and arrangements, basically slapped on the wrist, as promised. My son Dontrell being the only one out of the four being sentenced to a Juvenile Correctional Facility (Gladiator School) for “juvenile life” or until he was 21 years old. This was because the gun Black gave him to use was an actual gun, although it was broken and unloaded, missing parts etc. it was a real gun. The other boys used prop guns. He was 15 at the time and would be released four years later (one year early for good behavior).

o WHAT MY SON NEEDED

After 4 years in a juvenile correctional facility, my son was released. I noticed my son grew strong and wise in a lot of different ways. He learned survival skills concerning being in a facility, or amongst his peers. He learned how to face 

adversity and he earned his manhood in many ways.  And I also noticed he was unconnected from the realities of being back in society. Some of the normal things we don’t really think about on a daily basis that we do out of habit was somewhat out of touch for him. He spent the critical growing years for a male (15-20) behind bars in a tense and rough environment. Everyday activities like cooking, communicating, time management etc. were challenges. Not to mention challenges with re-entry as a whole from; employment, housing, family connection, etc. I noticed the hatred of police and any kind of authority, and I noticed the constant fear and unsureness that comes with the drastic change of living culture. He needed to adjust, and he needed a safe controlled environment to do so. And sadly, at the time I struggled to do so. I had recently been terminated from my place of employment of whom I was with 10 years. So upon his release, I was in the middle of another crisis; homelessness. So now, I witnessed my son being released after 4 years at 20 years old; being faced with major obstacles that at the time I myself was facing also. For a time, I couldn’t provide for him what was needed. We managed to stay in and out certain family members’ homes and couch surfed for a spell. This caused my son to feel worthless, confused and helpless seeing his mom struggling and not being able to do anything about it. At one time my son was hired at my place of employment. He managed to work there a month before a fellow employee who had no idea, he was my son, started complaining about his foul language and his “rapping all the time”, before he was terminated. But for a short time, I witnessed my son being happy, healthy, and having a feeling of self-worth while he was working. This scenario would repeat often, until he just gave up, the whole situation drove him to the streets.

I created a housing program, advocate program, and inmate support program for young men who are facing these challenges every day. My goal was to provide this structured environment for my son and others like him. I wanted to save my son and deter him from what seemed inevitable; prison.

The prison pipeline is real and has been set up in urban communities for many decades. The Prison Industrial Complex is very well evident in all of our communities, and has filled the prisons up with our sons, brother’s and husbands. I founded this program in 2019, with a strong passion to save my youngest child. Unfortunately, there has been some trouble keeping and maintaining financial support, and other challenges that come with new start up non-profits, my program has not been fully financed, making it impossible to provide the support and resources needed. Because of the lack of programs at the time in my city, my son was left to figure it out on his own. I did everything I could to help him with employment, transportation, emotional support, financial support etc. But to my disappointment, every job turned him away after his record came back, and I watched my son breakdown daily. With a baby on the way, my son felt hopeless after being denied employment so many times. I watched his attitude worsen, and his hopes dissipate. With nowhere to turn, he turned to the streets, and everything he learned in gladiator school. Within 2 years, my son was shot 3 times, involved in a major car accident, and eventually was convicted and sentenced to a 20-year sentence for an attempted murder charge.

WildHeartz Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in Columbus, Ohio. Our mission is to reduce recidivism in young men completing sentences in a Juvenile Correctional Facility (JCF) within the Ohio Department of Youth Services (ODYS), Franklin County Correctional Facilities (FCC), and Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC). We aim to be the barrier in the “elementary to penitentiary” pipeline and the deterrence to the Penitentiary Industrial Complex (PIC) that continues to gain at the expense of our youth. 

A WildHeart is a male between the ages of 13-30 (some exceptions may apply) Our target focus group is young males returning to society after being incarcerated; as well as high risk fosters who have grown out of the system. Our goal is to give these young men the tools needed to be successful. 

The challenges that the target group will face upon release is obtaining housing, maintaining employment, overall financial frustrations, institutionalization, peer pressure, media outlooks and influences, each unique individual challenges including anger management, time management etc. WildHeartz Inc’s standards are to build up males, to be the leaders of their families and villages; our neighborhoods.  We focus on building community leaders by setting them up for success and presenting new attitudes and behaviors, through education, support and love. We offer a variety of programs targeting the focus group.
 
 LIFERz, PARTNERz, DADDY UP and our WILDBOX program.
 

 WildHeartz Inc. will provide resources and support for young males completing a sentence at a JCF or state facility between the ages of 13-30 (some exceptions apply). We aim to work closely with ODYS, PRC, probation and parole agencies to provide an alternative to further incarceration by providing much needed support for qualifying youth. *Youth must meet certain criteria to be a candidate for WildHeartz programming.
 

 Each youth will be assigned a case manager and will develop an Individual Goal Plan (IGP) that will address each youth individually.  

 LIFERz : series of classes and discussions
 

 Who Art Thou?; Improving quality of life, self perspective, accountability, control and who has it
 Impulse therapy; handling stressful situations,

 preventable plan making
 Killing the stigma; on both sides of the fence

  Body Language; how it can determine life or death
 Energy; negative and positive
 

 PARTNERZ : Mentoring and Advocate program
 

 Qualified mentors will be assigned youth who they can assist in helping complete their IGP’s. Fun outings and positive environments promoting brotherhood, individual talents, sports events, and good healthy habit-forming activities promoting lifestyles and alternatives to what they see everyday.

WILD BOXES & DADDY UP : Inmate subscriptions, sign up

Incarcerated loved ones can be signed up for a  positive quarterly newsletter, quarterly box and phone credits, and sign up for  Daddy up program that aims in keeping relations open between inmates and their children. Child will receive gifts/cards on birthdays from inmates. Call and ask about any of our programs!