California defense attorney Arvand Naderi was still in high school when 19-year-old “David” was convicted of a robbery that landed him in state prison for 14 years. Upon his release at the age of 33 in 2007, David did not know how to look for a job, open a checking account, or rent a room. Like many ex-convicts that were jailed at an age too young to develop survival skills in the outside world, David may have joined the statistics by committing another robbery and ending up in prison again--this time with a longer sentence.
Fortunately, during the length of David’s incarceration, Arvand Naderi had been learning more than just law in law school. He was coming to an understanding of justice. When he became a lawyer, Naderi volunteered for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation mentoring program--named VIP (Volunteers In Parole)-- and took the newly released David under his wings. Thanks to the young Lawyer’s guidance, David--now three years out of prison--has a stable job, a comfortable place to live, a car, and most importantly a network of friends. He will not be among the 7 of 10 ex-convicts who return to prison after a brief taste of freedom. He will not victimize another citizen. He will not cost the California taxpayer $47,000 a year to keep him locked up.
Frustratingly, the mentoring program has recently been canceled due to budget cuts. But while the program was active Arvand Naderi took advantage of it to perform a valuable service to his community and to better the life of another human being.
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"Frustratingly, the mentoring program has recently been canceled
by I Have a Crush on Alex Trebek on Wed Apr 14, 2010 04:16 AM PDTFrustratingly, the mentoring program has recently been canceled due to budget cuts
Not an uncommon story in the USA. I wonder how those billions for Israel would be helpful in shoring up these cuts nationwide. Music programs are also being cut and even some entire grades. Pesky budget. Maybe Israel will give us a tax refund?
Good luck to this man. He's doing great work.
Good Man !
by Darius Kadivar on Wed Apr 14, 2010 01:55 AM PDTGreat and generous man indeed !
Life Sometimes offers some incredible stories that uplifts one's spirits and reactivates our faith in humanity.
This story is one of them.
Thanks Ari Jaan for Sharing this with us.