Kerwin Pittman was just 18 years old when he was sent to prison for conspiracy to commit murder, spending 11 years and six months behind bars before his release eight years ago. During his time in prison, Pittman witnessed firsthand the struggles that awaited his fellow inmates upon release, watching friends leave with nowhere to go or face strict time limits on temporary housing arrangements. Now Pittman has made history as what he believes is the first formerly incarcerated person in the United States to purchase a prison, buying the abandoned 400 bed Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro for under a million dollars. His reason for buying the facility is deeply personal: he wants to create the support system he saw so many people desperately need when they leave prison, transforming the place that once held people captive into a beacon of hope and second chances.
Pittman plans to turn the former prison into a reentry housing and workforce campus where formerly incarcerated people can stabilize their lives during a crucial six month program that provides job training and industry certifications. The founder of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services says his own experience showed him exactly what was missing for people reentering society, since he had family support and housing waiting for him but most of his friends had nothing. The campus will train up to 300 residents at a time in high demand trades like electrical work, plumbing, HVAC, and construction, addressing the shortage of skilled workers especially in rural North Carolina. Pittman estimates it will take about two years and $2 million to refurbish the prison while ensuring it no longer looks like a place of punishment, relying on private donations to fund a transformation that local commissioners are calling exactly the kind of program their community needs to help people rejoin life with dignity.
Source: https://ncnewsline.com/2026/01/06/former-inmate-buys-nc-prison-to-help-others-who-have-served-time/
