Rubicon helps those formerly incarcerated succeed in society
Ex-con connected with organization while attending an outreach fair for people who are returning to society after jail or prison
RIar ONc >> In September 2019, East Contra Costa native Joseph Sickler walked out of High Desert State Prison with plans and optimism, but plenty of hurdles to overcome.
He’d taken advantage of a community college program at the prison and used his credits to gain admission to Sacramento State University. And he had a job lined up through a family member. But faced with a parole condition to live in Contra Costa and work there, too, attending classes an hour away started to be too much.
“I had to drive to Sacramento twice a week for classes, and I couldn’t realistically work at my job part time like that,” Sickler said. “That’s when Rubicon came along.”
Sickler attended a mandatory outreach fair for so-called returning citizens — people who are coming back into society after a stay in jail or prison — and it was there he got in touch with the Concord branch of Rubicon Programs Inc., a nonprofit that combats poverty by promoting economic mobility.
“I signed up for it, and it was actually pretty cool. The people there were actually really supportive,” Sickler said. “They offered me a part-time job … They gave me gas cards. When I would buy books for school, they would pay me back.”
Rubicon’s stated mission is to focus on four areas for the formerly incarcerated: income, assets, wellness and community connections. To that end, it offers job training, has wellness education workshops, helps participants find health insurance and offers other day-to-day helping hands, like gas cards or laptops.
“We offer what I like to call ‘ whole- person support,’ ” said Carole “DC” Dorham-Kelly, Rubicon’s CEO. “You are addressing barriers to mobility, and you’re meeting each person where they are. The key to success is having a flexible program that has the capacity to be responsive to certain needs.”
Rubicon has received funding this year from Share the Spirit, an annual holiday campaign that serves disadvantaged residents in the East Bay. Donations will help support 41 nonprofit agencies in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The organization plans to use the grant in part to provide emergency support to clients, as well as buy laptops to create a technology library for remote training and job searches.
Some of Rubicon’s programs are geared toward assisting people like Sickler. The organization receives funding for an employment program through AB 109, a law designed to reduce state prison populations. It’s also the backbone agency for the Reentry Success Center in Richmond, a county effort designed to assist the formerly incarcerated in Contra Costa.
Sickler was incarcerated at age 23, in the early 1990s, for what was supposed to be a nine-year sentence. He ended up racking up more than twice that, including six years spent in a security
housing unit, or SHU, at Corcoran State Prison.
“When I got nine years, I thought my life was over… I didn’t care much for my first 10-12 years. I was just trying to survive in there,” he said. “I was getting involved in all the crazy stuff that happens in there I ended up turning a nine-year sentence into 211/2 years.”
But as Sickler’s 2019 parole release date was approaching, High Desert State Prison decided to allow community college professors to teach inmates who are deemed a high security threat. Sickler signed up for classes, and looking back, he said it transformed his life.
“I focused on college and I turned my back on the politics and everything,” Sickler said. “As soon as I did that, things started changing for me.”
After finishing at Sacramento State, Sickler used a contact at Rubicon to land an interview with Ironworkers Union Local 378, where he was accepted and has continued to work throughout the pandemic. He credits his coach at Rubicon, Masio Rayfield, with helping him
stick it out at Sacramento.
“( Rayfield) told me his story of how hard it was for him, and he made it through it all,” Sickler said. “That helped me out because that was someone who’d gone through the college I was going to and made it through the fire. I respected his opinion, so I stuck it out.”
Rayfield said he remembers Sickler as a “go- getter” who was laser-focused on his goals. Having spent a decade helping people out of poverty, he has seen people who have been formerly incarcerated forced to work through even more hurdles to success. Basic things, like bringing getting up to speed on 21st-century technology after a lengthy sentence, can be a burden, he said.
“This line of work has actually made me feel very fulfilled,” Rayfield said. “For one, it’s helping out my community. Two, it’s really cool to see someone so down on their luck and having so many obstacles do good for