By Parole Manager Annette Pannebaker
Community Reentry Parole Agents (CRPAs) conduct a new release orientation with every reentrant returning to the community. During the orientation they provide information, guidance and most importantly listen to the reentrants needs and problems facing them.
Agent Mike Corson from the Altoona District Office, while speaking with a reentrant, discovered the reentrant's wheelchair was broken. He also did not have a bedside toilet and wished he had some dumbbells to exercise with while being confined in his home.
Hearing all of this, Corson found an agency (Johns Way Medical Equipment Ministry) that could help him with a wheelchair, dumbbells and other supplies to make his life easier. But the reentrant could not get them because he could not drive.
Corson asked for permission to drive his car, pick up the chair and other supplies and deliver them to the reentrant.
This is the soul of what a CRPA does besides running groups and other services. It is about going above and beyond to give reentrants what they need to be successful in the community. Maybe this is the first time someone cared enough to go that extra mile. This could be the first time that someone listened, and found a solution to his problem.
During COVID-19 it was even riskier, but Corson did it because it's what a CRPA does, and he knew it would help the reentrant be more comfortable and happy at home. Job well done, Agent Corson!