Connection, Hope, Purpose, and Empowerment Define Travis Rapp’s Lived Experience Reentering the Community

 “It’s the everyday things, like being able to open a door, that bring me such joy.”

Like many people who are incarcerated, Travis Rapp struggled with anger, pain, and hopelessness during the 16 years he spent in a maximum security California prison, almost a decade in isolation.

Travis was 21 when he was charged with first-degree burglary and sentenced to 15 years at Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, CA,  “designed to house the worst-behaved, most problematic,” of all the state’s inmates. For nine years, he was confined to a 6.5-foot-by-11-foot room with just a bed, sink, and toilet. Meals were served through a slot. The exercise consisted of four hours a week in a gated dog-run-like cage in the outside yard.

Fast forward to today. Travis, 37, is just two years out of prison. He’s a lead supervisor for five of Five Keys’ employment and reentry crews, (about 50 employees) rising through the ranks from his first job on the CAL Crew, which works to repair, remove litter, control vegetation, repair storm damage and erosion and other highway beautification projects in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Joaquin counties. He clocks in at 6:45 a.m. and out at 3:15 overseeing worker safety, the vans, hiring, data sheets, payroll and recruiting.

“Travis is a natural leader, a standup guy who is also humble and was not afraid to start at the bottom and work his way up,” said Jalonn Harrison, Assistant Director/Transitional Work Programs for Five Keys. “He’s stepped up to every opportunity and given his best.  He’s an amazing role model for all that a person can make it through anything. He’s all about the power of hard work and determination.”

In February he was released from parole.

Travis is married to Lenna, a hairstylist, who shares his passion for trekking through California highways on weekends on their motorcycles. They live in an apartment in West Los Angeles with their two cats, Brodie, and Bob Cat, and have a bucket list of travel plans from Greece to Japan, to France and around the globe. 

The first place he and his wife went upon his release from prison: The Claim Jumper restaurant “for a big old juicy steak.” He’s proud to say he’s taken up cooking, “mostly steaks,” he admits.

“But it’s the everyday things, like being able to open a door, that bring me such joy.”

His new adventure is all about taking risks and creating a dream life. But he doesn’t forget the suffering and longing that defined his years in prison.

As the years rolled by in prison, Travis was visited by the prison chaplain three times, each to tell him about the death of one of his grandparents. 

Travis studied and earned his General Educational Development (GED) degree, classes in Excel and Microsoft, trade school auto mechanics certificate, soaked up as much history as possible, books about Napoléon, the Saxons and jotted down motivational quotes that became his lifeline and guiding light:  “You gain strength through struggle,” and “In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends.”

“I was a lifelong troublemaker who knew I had to turn my life around and that moving forward, the key would be who I surround myself with, he said.

Travis says he just kept telling himself: “Push forward, you can’t let it break you. Work, just work.”

Never underestimate the power of community.

In 2022, Travis was transferred into Los Angeles’ Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP), a reentry multi-tenant apartment complex that provides programs and tools necessary to transition from custody to community. Monitored with an ankle bracelet, Travis discovered Five Keys and its innovative transitional employment program.

His break was being hired by Five Keys on the Cal Crew. Through the Five Keys Transitional Employment and Reentry programs, people like Travis receive robust support to help them find permanent employment, progress along educational pathways, or enroll in progressive job training. Job readiness workshops, reentry support, access to high school completion, and hosted resource groups are provided.

“Travis is an extraordinary leader in that he takes the initiative to do things he sees need to be done instead of waiting for someone to suggest it,” said Dave Bates, VP of Transitional Employment & Reentry. “Travis forecasts what needs to be done and he gets it done. That is what you want in a leader.”

These days Travis is also passionate about giving back, reaching out to help others “get the second chance I did.”

There is a sorrow that continues to burrow in his heart. His best buddy in prison, a forty-something guy named Christophe, is sentenced to life without parole. “We were in solitary together and could only talk between the walls,” says Travis. “These days I can call and write him, but it’s hard because I am out and there is a guilt there and sadness. He got me through so much and is my best friend. Isn’t it weird, I have a best friend I never got to even shake hands with and probably never will. It’s rough. I feel very remorseful.”

Teacher provides care, support and education to inmates and upon reentry

“Enrolling in school gives our students the opportunity to focus on something productive and positive, to keep their minds and hearts occupied with something that gives them a sense of hope and personal accomplishment. Over and over I’ve seen these incredible shifts in attitude.”

Growing up in Santa Rosa, CA, Rose Kleiner had a challenging time in high school and for numerous reasons, wasn’t on track to graduate. At 17, she moved to San Francisco and completed her high school education through an independent study program and then through attending an alternative school. 

Grateful for the people and opportunities that shepherded her through that time in her life, Kleiner said her hope was that in some way she could reach back and help others dealing with similar struggles to push others to challenge their boundaries and struggles and pursue their own educational success. 

That’s exactly what she has been doing for the last almost five years as a teacher for Five Keys Schools and Programs at the San Francisco County Jail #4 and the Learning Center in the Adult Probation Department, both located at 850 Bryant, San Francisco. Since 2016 she has taught hundreds of inmates and community members seeking to earn their high school degree.

“One thing I really enjoy about teaching at Five Keys is you get to see all kinds of successes,” says Kleiner, 34. “Watching my literacy students making huge strides in their reading skills or my ESL students improve their English is so awesome, and you can see how it immediately changes their lives for the better. High fiving a student when they pass their final GED test, handing a student their diploma, or helping a graduate enroll in CCSF literally never gets old.”

She says one of her most gratifying moments as a Five Keys teacher has been when the students she worked with in custody show up at the community site where she teaches. Carrying the plastic bag with their belongings after being released from incarceration, they have told her they wanted to continue their education. 

“Being able to provide that sense of continuity and support during the incredibly challenging period of reentry is such an honor and a joy,” she says.

After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Literature at San Francisco State University and a Master’s in the same subject from the University of Colorado Boulder, she became an English teacher and worked for two years at Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy in San Francisco. 

“I had gone to graduate school with the intention of completing a PhD in literature and I ended up getting a funding package that included a teaching assignment,” she says. “It turned out that academia wasn’t for me and I left with a Master’s degree, but I realized I loved teaching adults. A friend of mine was working for Five Keys and suggested that I apply, and here we are.” 

Thanks to the creativity of Kleiner and the teachers and staff at Five Keys Schools and Programs and local Sherriff’s departments, they have not let the COVID-19 pandemic stop them from educating and serving up their mission. 

There is no stopping Five Keys Now “The pandemic has been so tough on everyone — students and teachers, incarcerated and in the community,” she says. “People are really struggling to fulfill their basic needs, which means education can move to the back burner. Many of our students are still working on their technology skills, which can make distance learning an extra challenge. And it is just hard for everyone not to have that face-to-face interaction and relationship building component, especially in custody where communication options are very limited.”

But, they have been able to continue serving students both in the community and in custody during shelter-in-place with online learning, mailing/dropping off work, phone calls, and just generally getting creative.

“I know that it’s meant a lot to our students to have this tie to normalcy and something positive to focus their energy on,” she says. “For my incarcerated students especially, just knowing that Five Keys is still there, still caring for them and still working for them, has helped them stay grounded and positive during an extraordinarily difficult time.”

Education is critical for the incarcerated“Being in jail is just such a difficult time — the worst combination of boring and stressful,” says Kleiner. ‘People are separated from their families and unsure of what their futures hold. Enrolling in school gives our students the opportunity to focus on something productive and positive, to keep their minds and hearts occupied with something that gives them a sense of hope and personal accomplishment. Over and over I have seen these incredible shifts in attitude. Watching our students move from a sometimes really negative place to a mindset of goal setting, feeding their intellectual curiosity, and really building their practical skills never stops amazing me.”As a Five Keys teacher, Kleiner has learned that the human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to us. “I think teaching at Five Keys has made me more patient and empathetic,” she says. “It’s also just brought so much joy into my life. It’s such a privilege to get to form these relationships with my students, to really get to know them as people and to feel like a positive force in their lives.”Along the way, Kleiner, who lives with her husband and cats, says she’s learned a lot of lessons from her teaching experience at Five Keys. “I think I’ve learned how to meet people where they are with warmth and non-judgment,” she says. “I’ve learned that it’s essential to really take time to listen and form a relationship with every single individual student, no matter what. And I’ve learned that it’s my job as a teacher to never stop learning how to be better!”