Fresh from federal prison, former Democratic congressman Mel Reynolds accepted a pair of jobs Sunday that promise to keep some of his attention focused on life behind bars.
Reynolds, whose prison sentence for fraud was commuted by former President Bill Clinton, was named director of Salem Baptist Church’s newly formed community development corporation in Chicago’s Roseland and Pullman neighborhoods. He’ll also work with prison inmates returning to those neighborhoods.
Reynolds, 49, also accepted a consulting position with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition to work on prison reform. His compensation for those positions was not disclosed.
Reynolds said he was not naive about jail before his conviction, but his years in prison convinced him drug treatment and education programs need to be expanded.
“A prison system that brutalizes people psychologically and does not rehabilitate them is a threat to society,” Reynolds said Sunday after attending services at Salem Baptist on the Far South Side. “In the prison system that I was in, when I was at the camp, 100 percent of the men there … are going to get out of prison at some point. And it behooves all of us, therefore, to have those folks prepared when they get out.”
Reynolds said his wife and three children, who have been living in public housing in Boston, will join him in Chicago “eventually.”
Reynolds was convicted in 1995 on charges stemming from a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old campaign worker. He served 2 1/2 years in state prison on those charges. He was convicted of federal campaign fraud charges in 1997.
More Top Picks Best Crossbody Bags To Use For Shopping
One of Reynold’s first projects for Salem Baptist will be to oversee construction of 20 single-family houses at Michigan Avenue and 109th Street, said Rev. James Meeks. Though the church will be working with a developer to build the houses, Meeks said Reynolds’ fraud conviction was “not at all” a concern.
“The church has a full-time CFO who will have supervision of the community development corporation books,” Meeks said.
Reynolds refused to discuss his past Sunday.
“I’ve said on many occasions that I made mistakes, but I’m not going to allow myself to be constantly drug back into the past,” Reynolds said. “I think that one has to look forward. Mel Reynolds’ life is not defined by a few years in my life.”
Reynolds took a step forward Sunday, in the pulpit, when he accepted Meeks’ offer to direct the church’s community development project.
It was a scene reminiscent of when Rev. Jesse Jackson came to the church last week as his first step in returning to public life after disclosing that he fathered a daughter out of wedlock.
Unlike Jackson, Reynolds was not joined by his wife or children, although his mother, sisters and other relatives sat behind him. Joining Reynolds at church were Jackson and his son, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Reynolds’ successor in the South Side’s 2nd Congressional District.
“Mel, when you come out of the fire–the fire separates the metal from the alloy–Mel, you’ll come out stronger,” Jackson Sr. said.
In front of an estimated 2,500 parishioners, Jackson offered Reynolds the consulting position with Rainbow/PUSH, which Reynolds later said he would accept.
In the community, Reynolds would like to create programs to assist family members of prisoners as well as education and job training for inmates after they are released.
After church, parishioners said Reynolds would be a community asset now that he has paid his societal debt.
“He’s a brilliant man. I think he has a lot to offer our community–I think even more so because of what he’s been through the last few years,” said Byron Washington, 41, of the South Shore neighborhood. “I think he has a story to tell. He can help.”