Tony

“The gang initiation happened when I was 12 years old. That was my fist experience with drug and alcohol abuse, and from that day until I was 28 I struggled with addiction.

“In spite of that struggle I was still the president of my grammar school and my high school, and I started my career in the corporate world. I spent more than 30 years working in insurance and professional billing. But in the beginning I was a completely different person. To fuel that addiction I committed a felony and I served a 30-month probation, which I completed in 1990.

“But it still hangs over me. I’ve been sober for 30 years now and my record haunts me to this day. I thought I had paid my debt to society …

“My [most recent] job I was at for three months before they told me there was a problem with my insurance license. I had passed the tests but my license was being held up for some reason. They said as soon as it goes through we want you to come right back to us.

“When I got the letter from the [licensing] board all I could do was cry.

“I had a certificate of good conduct, my record had been sealed, and I had been recommended for pardon and expungement by a former lieutenant governor, an Illinois congressman, an Illinois state representative and a judge. I thought I had proven myself a changed man. The board even recommended I receive the license. But my application was denied by the director.

“Since February 2012 I’ve sent hundreds of job applications and sat for dozens of interviews but I still haven’t been able to find a job in my industry. One interviewer told me I knew more about his company than he did …

“I built a life for myself and my family, but it’s all been taken away.”

Tony
Chicago, Illinois