When I (Sundi Jo Graham) first met Dennis Gaffney, I asked him why he wanted to do something different with his life. Though I’d heard the answer from others many times before, through the tone of his voice and the pain in his eyes, I knew he meant it. “I want to be a father to my kids,” Gaffney said, with a gentle, yet steadfast reply.
For Gaffney, he spent the past 8 years as inmate #1205138. In and out of institutions since he was 16, a “normal” life began to appear too distant to reach. The life Dennis knew involved drugs and gangs. Time spent behind bars can harden a man’s heart quickly. Oftentimes, the atmosphere becomes survival of the fittest. You fit in where you’re told to fit in or consequences find you around every corner.
Having worked with hundreds of justice-involved individuals in multiple facilities, I’ve quickly come to know a bluffer when I see one. But there have been a few whom I’ve met, that in a moment, you just know they stand out among the crowd. Dennis Gaffney was one of them. His eyes were weary, in the kind of way you know that someone is just tired of doing the same thing over and over again without different results. His tattoos were a front telling the world, “I am strong and there is no room for weakness.” But they didn’t fool me. I knew there was a man behind that front who desperately wanted to do the right thing.
He didn’t trust me and he made that pretty clear with both his words and demeanor. I was up for the challenge. At the beginning of every personal and professional development class I taught, I always wore a Johnny Cash t-shirt. Nothing breaks down barriers between a stranger showing up to teach an inmate how to create a life plan faster than the man who sang Folsom Prison Blues.
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Dennis took the class seriously, digging into the lessons, answering the questions and not being afraid to ask hard questions about life, reality, and what the future held. With every lesson, he dug deeper into understanding his past and finding his why for creating a better future. One of those why’s is his four children, Michael, Josh, Bailey and Karmen. “They were my motivation for wanting to leave the gang life and stay sober,” said Gaffney.
As Dennis was moving along in planning his future, beginning the application process for welding school, COVID-19 abruptly stopped everything. No more classes. No more communication. About to be released back into the world, his hopes for normalcy were halted and fear of the future lingered. What now? Where will I go? What will I do? But the Central Workforce Development Board and Central Ozarks Private Industry Council (COPIC) continued to work together to keep progress moving forward for Dennis.
Thanks to the Missouri Works Together grant, designed to assist those affected by opioid use in gaining work-related skills, Gaffney’s plans for welding school were solidified. All there was left to do was tell him the good news. The team at Tipton Correctional Center allowed us to set up a conference call to deliver the news. The relief in his voice brought tears to my eyes as we eased the uncertainty in a man whose life once revolved around simply trying to survive.
Dennis was released from prison on August 19, 2020 and started attending Missouri Welding Institute in Nevada, MO on August 24th. From the moment he started, he became a prized student. Collin Burns, Gaffney’s instructor said, “Dennis is a very hard worker always willing to learn. If he is failing at something that makes him want to learn it even more. He’s come a long way since I first got him. He has improved his work ethic and his frustration at things. I’m proud of Dennis for making something of himself and being a success for everyone else to see by not giving up and giving it a 100% everyday.”
Becoming a welder is not for the faint of heart. Long hours and attention to detail pushed Dennis daily to keep up. After spending many years of his life quitting when things got hard, it wasn’t an option for him this time. When days got tough, Dennis not only visualized the faces of his children, but those of his brother Josh, who died on the way to Dennis’ infantry school graduation, and friend Zach, who succumbed to a heroin overdose. “They are a constant reminder of why I have to make better choices.”
His hard work and dedication has paid off, as Dennis will graduate from the Welding Institute on January 18, 2021, with certifications in structural welding, mig/flux core, and pipe fitting. After graduation, he is taking a temporary position in Warrensburg, Mo., while he works to get his driver’s license and a car. From there, he plans to find employment as a traveling welder.
Dennis no longer has a future filled with uncertainty. “I have a trade,” he said. “I have the confidence that I can achieve anything I put my mind to. The Central Workforce Development Board and MWI were very helpful. Not only had I never welded before, but I was getting acclimated to society after being gone for close to a decade. It gave me support and an opportunity to break the cycle. It also provided housing so I could attend the program.”
If it weren’t for the Missouri Works Together grant, breaking that cycle may have been impossible for Dennis, and the chances of returning to what he’s always known would have been substantial, especially being released from prison into a pandemic. He’s striving daily to find his “new normal.”
“Coming to this school changed my life,” said Gaffney with heartfelt gratitude. “I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t come here. You changed my life. I finally have plans for a future and I’m more full of life.”
Anne Precythe, Director of the Department of Corrections once said to me, “Most people in prison aren’t knuckleheads, they’ve just made some bad decisions. They just need a hand up to help them get back into society successfully.” She’s right. Gaffney wasn’t a knucklehead at all, just a broken man who needed some help to find his way. And he’s doing just that, finding his way and welding some broken pieces back together while he does just that.
Dennis was the last client I was able to personally assist after the pandemic halted our ReEntry efforts. Andy Stanley says, “You do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.” Though we haven’t been able to assist a large quantity of justice-involved individuals in the last year, we were able to help one get his footing and find a better future. And he will continue to offer hope to another, who will do the same, therefore changing the generations after him. The Missouri Works Together grant has pushed Dennis Gaffney forward to a brighter future that has not only changed him, but will change the generations after him.
Update: As of January 2021, Dennis is now employed full-time as a traveling welder, making $21/hr plus bonuses and a daily per diem.