Brothers in Arms program serves those who served
Veterans get classes, support — and hope — at newly expanded Harris County Jail housing unit
In the U.S. Air Force, personnel learn how to fight, march and make their beds, veteran Shane Booth said. But there’s one critical lesson they weren’t taught during his roughly two years in the military, he said.
“They prepare you for war, but they don’t prepare you for life when you’re coming back,” he said.
And when his 1-year-old son was taken from him amid a domestic dispute, Booth said he turned to drugs to cope. The 45year-old truck driver said he spent 10 years behind bars for a burglary conviction before being released in 2014. He was arrested again in May in connection to a 2016 theft of cargo charge.
But he is not without hope. Booth is one of 72 incarcerated veterans now being housed in the jail’s Brothers in Arms unit, which was dedicated and expanded Thursday. Since February, the program there has helped these male inmates apply for benefits for veterans, obtain copies of their military discharge paperwork and have access to life-skills classes, in addition to offering other services.
The jail currently has a separate housing unit through Reentry Services that serves 48 veterans. Brothers in Arms was started by the Jail Chaplaincy Department after it identified more than 300 male veterans and 12 female veterans in custody during January of this year.
“To me, there’s a distinction for people that put their life on the line, and I made that commitment, so it’s important to me to be able to be around those same kind of people,” Booth
“They prepare you for war, but they don’t prepare you for life when you’re coming back.” Shane Booth, veteran in Harris County Jail’s Brothers in Arms unit
said. “We all may have done wrong or been accused of doing wrong, but there’s still a lot of honor.”
Heide Laser, a case manager with the Chaplaincy Department, led efforts to create the new unit, which began as a 56-inmate tank at the jail’s location at 1200 Baker Street. On Thursday, Brothers in Arms relocated to the Joint Processing Center at 700 North San Jacinto, where it is expanding to house 72 men.
“What I’m excited about (is) in their other unit, they didn’t have any windows, they didn’t have private stalls. This is like the best of the best area where they could be placed,” she said. “I think it’s going to be amazing for their mental health and it’s going to be amazing for them to stay focused on the programming.”
The windows in the new unit will help give veterans a sense of time, Laser said, as they can keep track of sunrise and sunset. Its walls are decorated with military-themed artwork and the bed frames come in red, white and blue.
At the dedication ceremony, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez called the incarcerated veterans “heroes” and “leaders in your own right.” He said the jail was there to support these men and help them get back on their feet.
“Don’t let this be who you are, because it’s not,” he said. “You’re all good men, that for one reason or another have done maybe something wrong, made some bad decisions. That will be dealt with. I think you all believe in accountability.”
Booth agrees, and wants everyone to know there are good people in the criminal justice system.
“Not all people in jail are bad people,” he said. “You’ll find some of the most talented, some of the most artistic, some of the most intelligent and most gifted people you will ever meet in life in jail.”
Booth said one of his favorite parts of the program has been a class on manhood. It has helped him to think about how he wants to be a role model for his son, and a good listener for his wife. When he is no longer incarcerated, he said, he wants to start his own truckdriving business, and plans to build a network of support to help him stay sober.
“You’ve got to be willing to reach out,” he said. “It’s one of our hangups as not just soldiers, but men. Society teaches ‘A man’s got to be so strong.’ So we hide everything and we don’t ever reach out. And that’s one of the things you have to learn.”
Laser said Brothers in Arms is intended to help veterans in the jail, regardless of whether they are ultimately convicted.
“In the Chaplaincy Department, we’re looking at the whole person,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where they’re going from here . ... They could be leaving Harris County Jail, they could be going to prison for life. We want to make sure that they’re educated.”