Taking a leap off the street, into a job hunt

DOZENS OF Baltimoreans have contacted The Sun during the past six weeks to express a desire to end their roles in one of the city's most serious problems - the drug trade that supplies thousands of city and suburban residents with heroin and cocaine, ruins families and neighborhoods, and fuels the violence that keeps Baltimore high on the homicide charts.

Addicts called for treatment, and those who sell drugs called for a new direction - specifically, the full-time job they believe will keep them from returning to the streets. So far, nearly 100 men and women have asked for help.

Those still using heroin and cocaine were referred to Baltimore Substance Abuse Systems, the quasi-governmental agency responsible for providing treatment for the uninsured and underinsured, or to a treatment center that offered its services. Several of those seeking employment have been referred to two nonprofit agencies that help connect men and women with criminal records to employers willing to hire them - STRIVE Baltimore and Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake. Some were referred to the Mayor's Office of Employment Development. A few others enrolled in a culinary training program offered at no cost by nonprofit Moveable Feast, and some were referred directly to businesses that contacted The Sun to express willingness to hire ex-offenders.

Each day, more men and women, either formerly or presently immersed in the drug culture, call here for help in finding full-time, legitimate work. They are unemployed, underemployed or still engaged in the sale of cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Almost all say they have been turned down for low-paying, mainstream jobs because of their criminal records.

Brief profiles of some of these men and women follow. In a few instances, active or recently retired drug dealers asked that their full names not be published but made available to prospective employers. Companies or individuals interested in a job application from any of these people, meeting them face to face and helping them get out of the city's destructive drug culture, should contact me at 410-332-6166 or by e-mail at [e-mail].

Joe Davis

Twenty-three years old, a graduate of Baltimore's Southern High School and the Maryland prisons, Davis says he used to sell drugs but now seeks a job to support his wife and 5-year-old daughter. Davis last saw a prison cell in 2003. He has experience installing rebar and would like to find a construction job again.