Mat-Su Reentry Coalition offers new beginnings for former inmates

As 2025 ends and a new year is beginning, many are thinking about the new opportunities coming this year. The possibilities of setting new goals, embracing change, and believing in your ability to grow and write your own story.

That is the mission for the Mat-Su Reentry Coalition and Coordinator Barbara Mongar. The Mat-Su Reentry Coalition is a partnership of community members, public and nonprofit agencies, faith-based groups, and businesses, all committed to reducing recidivism among returning citizens in the Mat-Su community.

The Mat-Su Reentry Coalition, along with the Mat-Su Reentry Program, is housed within Valley Charities, Inc. “Our Mission is to promote public safety by identifying and implementing strategies that increase formerly incarcerated individuals' well-being within the community and reduce the likelihood of their return to prison.”

The Mat-Su Reentry Coalition (MSRC) and its partners provide hands-on support for Alaskans leaving incarceration and successfully returning to their communities, helping with employment, housing, and access to treatment and healthcare, taking steps to reduce recidivism.

One such person is a former inmate known as Todd C. who says the services MSRC offer have been invaluable, from the time he was nearing his release all the way up to now, as he still works with case managers even after being released over a year and half ago.

“Initially a parole officer had talked to me about it (the program),” he says, though the information he was given he says was vague, and no one could fill in the blanks about what specifically the program could do for him. It wasn’t until he met a former inmate who had gone through the program after his own incarceration that Todd got a phone number, made the call, and when he was released, he met with a case manager from MSRC.

“Right off the bat, he was like, ‘here’s your phone, we’re gonna go shopping, this is what we need to do.’ He helped get me going.” The case manager reassured Todd that he wasn’t going to do him wrong.

“I had nothing up here. I didn’t have any family, my friends that had lived up here were all long gone, so I was on my own.” He recounts that the first month he was out of prison, he lived in a used travel trailer as he calls it, during a February out in Hatcher Pass. He says he was lucky as it had a little heater, living in it on a friend’s property, with access to a bathroom and a kitchen. “It worked out.”

But while he had someplace to live temporarily, Todd says he really had nothing. “I had nothing. But with the re-entry program, I started to build up.” He says he met people who further helped him, getting him to meetings, and with the help of case managers from MSRC, he was able to get to meetings with his parole officer, meet with potential employers, whatever he needed.

Todd knew what his priorities were: “What I needed to do was I needed to find a place to live, that wasn’t a trailer, I needed to find transportation, and I needed to get a job. And I pretty much had to do it in that order.”

But after serving over 16 years, almost 1/3 of his life, it was rough not having things most don’t think about, such as credit history, recent employment history, or transportation. “It was very difficult to get anything. “

One thing Todd says that actually helped him get back on his feet was being transparent with those he interacted with, telling them who he was and where he’d been, notably why he’d been there, and this is what he was trying to do with his life.

He says that he made between nearly 100 inquiries to find an apartment, and recalls on one occasion going to look at a studio apartment, telling the couple--who would later become his landlords--about his past before setting foot in the apartment, he thought he was done, knowing that other tentative renters with jobs and no criminal history were interested in the same apartment would likely get it.

“His wife was blown away at the utter honesty and sincerity, and decided to rent (it) to me. So I had a home,” he recalls with a smile. While he would need help from others for the deposit, Todd says the MSRC helped him with rent those first few months, as well as those initial items all people need when starting fresh. “I went shopping…they had a list of stuff that I’d need to get started.”

He credits the MSRC for also helping with funding for a title for a used truck he had found, as well as auto insurance for the first six months, “In terms of how they assisted me right off the bat, I can never repay. Now I’ve got a home. Now I’ve got a vehicle. And then it was time to find a job.”

Todd had a background as a journeyman level chef, having worked at several restaurants, and though it was not something he particularly wanted to do for a living, he needed a job, and he took one at a local restaurant, getting hired on the spot with an “above-average” wage. He was on his way.

“No matter what, you’re still needing things. Work clothes, work shoes, and for what I couldn’t fill in, and what others couldn’t fill in, I got a lot of assistance from the re-entry program.” The reason? “There’s just some good people here.”

This is just part of Todd’s story. Part 2 will discuss the needs that go beyond the surface.

To learn more about the Mat-Su Reentry Coalition, please visit www.akreentry.org/matsu-reentry-coalition