When facing a judge during his sentencing, Wayne Howard asked to be sent to KPEP. “I knew that going to KPEP would get me away from everybody and everything I was around, all the bad influences. ” he explained. “And that was the thing I really needed.”
But still Wayne worried that going to KPEP would be like going to jail, but for a longer period of time. Yet at KPEP he learned some basic, important life skills and met people who have helped him change his life.
The many classes he attended at KPEP presented him with strategies to change his thinking and ways to approach his life. Wayne also relates that his KPEP experience taught him how to take care of himself and keep his home clean and organized. The staff were “all good to me. They were strict but I needed that.”
His strong work ethic has clearly been a benefit. While working in the KPEP kitchen and doing other kinds of maintenance jobs at KPEP, Wayne finished the 150-day KPEP program in just 75 days. By holding down three jobs, Wayne was able to make all of the child support payments he owed for his 18-year-old twin daughters, about $7000, and is now close to being debt-free.
Wayne works part-time at a fast food restaurant, does management and maintenance at the apartment building where he resides, and cares for a 91-year-old man during the nighttime hours. In his off-hours, he attends a S.M.A.R.T. Recovery (Self Management and Recovery Training) class on Monday evenings at the Recovery Institute, and works to restore and remodel old campers for resale.
Wayne is also very active at Life-Changing Ministries in Kalamazoo. Pastor Tom Gregg has become a mentor to him and recruited Wayne to help build the new church for the ministry. Pastor Tom also accompanied Wayne as he nervously addressed the KPEP Board of Directors which includes law enforcement and judges, relating his experiences. Wayne acknowledged that he often “needs to be pushed a little to do things that are unfamiliar.”
The structure at KPEP is what makes the program work, according to Wayne. “It’s hard at first, but it gets easier. They make you get out and live your life the right way.”