Before he graduated high school this May through Five Keys Charter Schools, Joseph Riddlesperger, 27, spent most of his teen years “catching cases.” Bounced from juvenile hall to foster homes, he was kicked out of high school. Eventually he ended up incarcerated for almost four years. The collateral consequences of a trauma-filled upbringing led him to multiple convictions for vehicle theft, DUI, drug possession, stealing cars, and evading the law.
Graduation day at the Southeast Community Center in San Francisco on June 7, 2024.
After being released from prison and moving in with an uncle, Joseph couldn’t break the cycle and found himself facing another five-year stint in prison.
But providence stepped in through an emotional prison visit from his mother and a surprise offer from a judge who told him “You are the worst possible candidate for a drug program.” At his sentencing hearing, the judge offered Joseph a second chance to turn his life around: The deal: wave prison time and attend a two-year bootcamp-style program, The Jericho Project in Brisbane, CA.
“My lifestyle was getting high and catching cases, not a very productive member of society,” says Joseph. “I was always self-sabotaging. But then my mother came to the prison to visit me and it got me. She was crying saying she couldn’t survive one more night waiting for a phone call and wondering if I was going to make it home. She told me how I had once been the role model for my nieces and nephews. But my13-year-old nephew said I wasn’t anymore. That is when I felt I lost everything. I didn’t want to be that guy. I want to be better than that.”
Enter the Jericho Project, a humane alternative to prison that provides treatment and training to chemically dependent former offenders who are committed to recovery rehabilitation. There, men like Joseph receive housing, treatment, education, physical training, social development and vocational training so they can become productive and successful members of society again. It’s a tough haul. Newbies are not allowed calls or any contact with family members for 90 days.
“Joseph’s one of the ‘lucky’ ones, he got two years here, when most of us just get one,” says Matt Jones, intake director for Jericho, who is a graduate of the program where 70 men including Joseph currently live. “I say that sarcastically because 60 percent of the men don’t make it through one year here. But Joseph is close to completing two years, a very strict sentence. The way Joseph has turned himself around has been a major pillar in my own recovery and growth. He has become a leader helping the new men who arrive here and they respect him because they know he gets where they have been.”
Months away from completing the Jericho program, Joseph works daily as a warehouse manager as a diesel mechanic. After hours, he is a personal trainer at Jericho.
Jericho Project’s educational curriculum is a key component of treatment, crucial to assisting clients like Joseph in developing into a functional, self-reliant individual. The partnership with Five Keys Charter Schools is key to that transformation.
Joseph says his high school graduation was a monumental event he never could have imagined. To support him, his supervisor from work attended the ceremony. “It meant the world to me to have him there,” says Joseph.
Joseph receives his diploma. It’s official.
Like it’s biblical metaphor, the Jericho Project invites and challenges former offenders like Joseph who often are considered society’s throw aways to get and be better, to achieve what seems impossible to others.
Joseph’s gratefulness for his Five Keys teacher, Tanya Kennedy, doesn’t even scratch the surface of what he says she has done to guide him through the challenging classroom.
“She is so full of life and spent so much time giving me extra help in class,” says Joseph. “I had such a hard time with economics, but she spent so much time breaking it down in details until I got it.”
The respect is mutual.
“Joseph is an inspiration for a lot of people,” says Five Keys’ teacher Kennedy, who works onsite at Jericho. “Like many of the men he didn’t have the greatest upbringing, yet he doesn’t hold grudges and is very grateful for his renewed relationship with his family. He is up for any challenge and is a shining example of someone who has persevered and pushed through tremendous hardship to do better every day. He has become like a third son to me.”
Tanya Kennedy and Joseph
Joseph is keenly aware of the tremendous opportunity The Jericho Project and Five Keys are giving him to break free of his past and work hard toward a new life where he will flourish and grow. The U.S. prison system is based on punishment. The problem is, it doesn’t work — more than half of people released from prison are back within three years, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
What’s ahead? Joseph hopes to flip his high school diploma into a college degree, and wants to become an electrical mechanic.
“I want to set an example for my family and the other men here, become a role model and a productive citizen,” says Joseph.
Despite the barriers that society has in place, and continues to reinforce, Joseph says he and Matt are proof that you can lead a positive life after prison. He shares his experience with the young men entering the Jericho program.
About The Jericho Project
Jericho Project was established in 1995 as a structured, residential treatment program for recovery from substance abuse and criminal behavior. The primary objective is recovery through development of the mind, body, and spirit. The program facilities include several of our state-licensed private residential facilities and our outpatient treatment center. Jericho Project's first phase housing includes two residential houses. The houses are designed for newcomers who have been in the program less than three months. Our second phase housing consists of our 18-unit apartment complex. The apartment complex is designed to accommodate senior members. Our third phase housing consists of our 11-unit apartment complex designed for the alumni in our aftercare program. All residential housing is supervised by senior staff members. Our outpatient treatment center contains large open rooms for members to conduct treatment meetings, educational/ vocational classes, warehousing/forklift certification classes, corporate offices, and professional gym, which is designed to promote a healthy lifestyle. The center is central to the program's structure, training, and activities.