Do you believe in 2nd chances?

I am a felon or ex-felon.  I have used a false name to protect myself.  I was arrested in 2003 and plead guilty and was sentenced to probation in 2005. I believe in 2nd chances, but I am not sure the rest of the United States does.

I was convicted on Grand Theft.  I had been married to an abusive man whom would physically and mentally abuse me if the bills were not paid on time.  This was the reality of my life for 20 years.  I began stealing from my employer to avoid being abused.  I know that I should and could have taken other steps, but I was ashamed and had no self esteem at this point in my life.  I made the wrong choices.  I take full responsibility for my crimes and have asked those I committed the crime against and the Lord for forgiveness and have changed my life and know I have been forgiven.

In 2006 I entered college.  In 2008 I received my Associates Degree in Culinary Arts and graduated Magna Cum Laude while working full time.  I have not been able to gain meaningful employment due to my history and now I no longer can take doing interviews.  I never thought I was a quitter, but at this point I feel defeated.  I decided to go back to college this year and finish my education.  I am a senior, working towards my bachelors degree in Hospitality Management.  I am not sure why I am doing this as it will just give me more student loans to pay off and it seems that no matter how I have changed no employers will give me that 2nd chance.

I would love to make a difference in the world.  I would love to help those who have traveled the same road to destruction, but have found that with my conviction I also cannot volunteer to help at Women's shelters to help those abused, because I have a conviction.

I now understand why so many convicts return to prison or commit another crime.  They have nowhere to work and cannot afford to live without a job.  I am lucky enough to have family support.  I am worried about my future as I get closer to retirement and have no retirement account to help support me and cannot gain employment to help get a retirement account established.  I gave my retirement account to my former employer as part of my restitution for the crimes I committed against them.

So, I was just wondering if anyone out there believes in second chances?  Would you hire an ex-con and give them the opportunity to work hard and prove themselves?  Or is that just lip service?  I find it interesting that the liberals all believe in hand outs, but where are they when ex-felons need help?  Do their companies hire ex-felons and give them the opportunity, after proving their worth, to move into management positions?

I did gain employment in January of 2007 from a Chef at Ruth's Chris Steak House.  He knew about my history, but had seen how I worked in school and gave me an opportunity.  I worked hard and gained some wonderful knowledge.  I loved my job.  In September of 2009 the company had an opening for a Sous Chef position.  The regional vice president came in to talk to me about the position he told me they had decided to move forward with giving me the opportunity, they just needed to run a background check and talk to my references.  I asked him if he knew I had a background.  The corporation had never looked at my application and he had never been informed by the chef, who was now a regional chef, of my background.  I filled out the form and gave my references and was told two weeks later that due to my conviction I could not have the position at this time, but possible sometime in the future I would be considered.  After some time had passed since the conviction.  In May of 2010 I spoke with the regional vice president again and he informed me that I had been cleared and would be given the opportunity to apply if an opening became available in the area.  He knew I was married and that my husbands job was in Dallas so that limited me to the area.  In November of 2010 I was offered a position with another company, who never asked about my background, and it was a chef's position, but it was new owner to the hospitality industry.  I gave a month notice to Ruth's Chris and they tried to talk me into staying telling me again I was the top of the list for a promotion, they just didn't have anything in the area.  They offered me a dollar an hour raise to stay, but I felt I needed to move on, which was a bad choice on my part.  I left with great written references from all of the chefs I worked for, including the regional chef, who is now a corporate chef, and also the general manager.  I went to work for this new employer, but his business failed to make it and I was once more out of a job.   At that point I talked with my husband about me moving to another area to take a Sous Chef job with Ruth's Chris since I had been told by the regional vice president that I had been cleared to work in that position, but they had no openings in the area.  We decided that to further my career and give me a chance at that new life that we would move so that I could take a job with a corporation that knew my work ethic.  I contacted the regional vice president about a job opening listed on the website that was open in Nashville.  He informed me that position was already filled and told me I was still on the top of his list, he even sent me an email stating that I was at the top of his list.  I looked at some of the other opportunities and called him back about a Sous Chef opening in Portland, Oregon.  He told me that was not in his region.  I contacted my former chef, the corporate chef, and he encouraged me to apply.  I applied for the position, took all of the assessment tests and passed with flying colors.  I then was told they needed to do a background check and once again informed them of my background.  I sent an email to the regional vice president of that area, the general manager in Portland and the Executive Chef in Portland.  I also spoke to HR in Florida.  I was informed that with my good recommendations that I should not have any problem gaining the position.  I had phone interviews and was told by the Executive Chef that I had the position and everything would be finalized by the regional vice president.  I received a phone call from the corporate chef I knew, whom I had thanked for his glowing recommendation and for getting me the job, he told me that he wanted me to know that the job had just been relisted as open and they were asking all restaurants for any applicants they could provide.  Right after that phone call I was called by the regional vice president for the Portland area telling me that they decided I wasn't the right fit for the job.  He tried to use the excuse that I had a bad evaluation before I left Ruth's Chris.  I informed him that all of my evaluations had been great and I had recommendations in writing from every chef and manager I worked for at Ruth's Chris.  He then informed me that it really had to do with my criminal record and he was sorry.  I was upset, offended and shocked.  The regional vice president for the Texas area had lied to me for several years about being the top of the list, just to keep me at Ruth's Chris because I was such a valuable employee.  Later I found out he had even lied to me about the position in Nashville being filled already, as it was still open, but he knew the head office would not hire an ex-con for a management position.  At this point, needless to say, I was depressed and wondered where to go from there.

I have searched hard for a job, embarrassed at each interview about having to revisit my past and explain my criminal history, just to never be given a second chance.  I know that several places won't even give me an interview after reading my application.  I have never, and never will, lie on an application.  I finally could not take going though the interview process anymore only to be turned down.  It seems change does not matter.  I now have not been on an interview for about 6 months.  I am thankful I have a supportive family who accepts me and who has given me a second chance.  Most ex-cons don't have this support and thus revert back to crime.  We need to have some laws in the United States to protect the civil rights of former convicts who have done everything to change and who just need to be given a chance.  In some states they have these laws, but not in the state where I was convicted or where I live now.  I feel everyone deserves a second chance and the right to prove yourself.  We have rules like three strikes your out, but what about one strike and you get a 2nd chance?  I was given 12 years of probation.  I have completed almost 8 years, with no marks on probation and was even recommended for early release by my probation officer.  But, since I don't live in the state where convicted the judge just changed my probation to unsupervised.  I was placed on  visits four times a year after just being on probation for 2 years and I have now been on unsupervised probation for almost 2 years.  I am a worthwhile person, a hard worker, smart and a team player.

If you know of any restaurant in the Dallas/Plano area, who is willing to give a hard worker a second chance and prove themselves and move up into management., once they have I would love to know.

Thank you for this forum to vent my frustrations and I hope that people will learn to open their hearts and their minds to the fact that people can change and deserve a second chance at life.