On Wednesday, Oct. 8, the fourth class of Incarceration Doesn’t Define Us (I.D.D.U.) graduates from Danville Adult Detention received their certificates of completion during a ceremony in the multipurpose room at 1 Community Way.
Five participants, Zecarius Menefee, David Hangelia, Jeffrey Carter, Roqez Whitehead, and Wesley Light received their certificate following their eight-week commitment to attendance for weekly training and information sessions about job readiness, housing, education opportunities, budgeting and more.
Carter and Light gave testimonies about how the I.D.D.U. program has prepared them for the future upon release. Menefee, who has been released and also earned his GED while incarcerated, gave a testimony as well.
The program now has 121 total individuals who have graduated from 15 total cohorts. Of those, four of the cohorts with a total of 29 alumni are from Adult Detention.
Gene Beasley, Director of Adult Detention, spoke during the ceremony and offered words of encouragement for the future, which he noted is totally in the graduates’ hands. He also noted how programs like I.D.D.U. make a positive difference in jail culture.
I.D.D.U. provides resources and assistance to residents who have recently been released from jail or have experienced hardship ease back into the community over an eight-week period.
Since the program’s inception in 2021, Community Relations Liaison Ashtyn Foddrell remains committed to being a reference and resource for all the I.D.D.U. graduates.
The successes of the I.D.D.U. program have been overwhelming, as Foddrell pointed out, because there have been graduates who have returned to school to receive their GED, earn a college degree, receive a commercial driver’s license, return to a previous occupation, and more.
Foddrell was invited to present the I.D.D.U. program at the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in 2022. In addition, other law enforcement agencies have reached out to her to learn how they can implement a similar I.D.D.U. program in their jurisdiction.