Daniel J. Chacon
Santa Fe New Mexican
SANTA FE, N.M. — Inside a New Mexico prison, Miguel Tapia is trying to get out of his comfort zone.
Tapia, who was convicted of robbery and is serving a 15-month sentence for violating parole, said he’s “used to looking at the sidewalk” — to go through life aimlessly, with no particular goal.
But in recent weeks, a new culinary training program, which includes classes to help him find a job after he leaves prison, has given the Albuquerque native a new lease on life.
“A different part of my horizons has opened up,” said Tapia, 48. “I’m starting to see different colors in the spectrum.”
Celebrity chef Fernando Ruiz, a three-time Food Network winner, is teaching an eight-week course at the recently launched Northern New Mexico Entrepreneurs Association, which Ruiz co-founded with Española community activist Ralph Martinez and Jamai Blibbin, founder and CEO of Santa Fe-based workforce development nonprofit Innovate + Educate.
For Ruiz and Martinez, the re-entry program — part of an effort to boost confidence in inmates once they leave prison and help them reintegrate back into society — is deeply personal because they know firsthand what it’s like behind bars.
Lewis spent four years in prison, and Martinez is a former drug addict who has been in and out of prison.
“The chefs and I both know how easy it is to get into a situation and how hard it is to get out of it,” Martinez said. “But we also know that healing comes from getting your life back together again. That’s the message we want to get across and that’s what all of our focus is.”
“Like I always tell Ralph, ‘We have to help,'” Lewis said, adding that he has offered to help, including as he prepares to open a new restaurant, Escondido, in the El Camino Crossing area on Agua Fria Boulevard in Santa Fe.
“I don’t know half the process for liquor licenses, permits and all that,” he said. “If people are going to help us, we have to help people.”
Life Lessons
The course curriculum is largely hands-on in the kitchen, with the nine participants tasting the fruits of their labor at the end. In a recent class, the inmates learned how to butcher a lamb; on Thursday, they made quesabirria tacos. The inmates are allowed to use knives, but they are strapped to their tables, and they must return all kitchen tools by the end of the course.
“It doesn’t require a lot of book study,” Lewis says, “it just requires a bit of culinary math, and now I’m pretty passionate about it. I wasn’t that keen on it at first, because I wasn’t good with numbers.”
As chuck roast for quesabirria tacos cooked and aromas wafted from the kitchen Thursday, in a nearby classroom, Blivin and Ryan Dimas of Innovate Education guided participants through the “Professional Skills” section of the course, which included lessons on dressing for a job interview (“Dress like you’re going to court,” Lewis suggested) and writing a resume.
When inmates asked how to handle gaps in their employment history while in prison, Haven Scogin, deputy director of reentry for the Department of Corrections, told them to include any jobs they held while incarcerated and to list the state of New Mexico as their employer.
“You guys work for the state and you don’t even realize it,” Lewis joked, drawing laughter from the class.
Martinez said that his and Lewis’ real-life experiences had allowed them to form “stronger connections” with the inmates.
“I think those are really important when you talk to people who are in that situation right now,” he said.
Lewis said statistics show many inmates are likely to reoffend and end up back in prison.
“The statistics say it will bounce back within X amount of time,” he said. “We’re trying to beat that. I don’t want to see everyone who completes this curriculum bounce back. That’s my goal. The statistics say that, realistically, it’s not possible. But I want it to be possible. We have to do it. We have to find a solution.”
Lewis and Martinez said more than 10 restaurants in Santa Fe County and Española have agreed to hire candidates who complete the program.
What does your policy say about inmate release and continuity of care after release from custody? In the video below, risk management expert and co-founder of Lexipol, Gordon Graham, outlines considerations regarding inmate release from prison and continuity of care.
“Let’s dig deeper”
Martinez said they met in 2019 at a community event Lewis hosted to raise money for scholarships, and they’ve continued to work together since then on projects ranging from distributing care boxes during the COVID-19 pandemic to launching a Secret Santa initiative for families in need.
About two and a half years ago, Lewis proposed opening cooking classes for inmates after they were released from prison to help them become productive members of society.
“I said, ‘That’s a great idea,’” Martinez recalled. “We started talking more in depth about the who, what, when, why, where and how – especially the big things – and that’s when we thought of Jamai. [from Innovate+Educate] We have worked together on various projects before.”
Martinez said the group quickly hit the ground running.
“We’re just starting to get serious about it,” he said, adding that it took about two years for the program to get off the ground.
“There were a lot of pieces of the puzzle that needed to be done, so we worked diligently,” he said.
They asked several lawmakers for financial support, and one Democrat, Rep. Andrea Romero of Santa Fe, said she agreed to help.
“She said she wanted to be part of this great undertaking and allocated $75,000 in Junior Bill funds so we could get the program started,” he said, referring to the state’s capital expenditures bill.
Innovate+Educate, a skills training provider, funded the business plan to launch the first program. Funding for the prison program comes through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) from the state Office of Workforce Solutions.
Andrea Romero’s [funding] “This was critical because we needed a pilot program before the state could invest and put money into the workforce,” Blibbin said.
“Our end goal was to get it into the prison,” Martinez said, “but we didn’t know how realistic that would be. So it was a lot of networking and making connections and meetings and phone calls and emails and putting the puzzle together.”
As discussions with the Department of Corrections continued, Messrs. Ruiz and Martinez launched the program for formerly incarcerated and at-risk people in April, with an initial class of 15 people.
“Within 24 hours, 23 people applied,” Martinez said, adding that he and Ruiz decided not to turn anyone away and accepted all 23 applicants.
“We said, ‘As soon as we finish the April group, let’s jump right into the prison,’ because we didn’t want to waste any time,” he said. “We’re in our third week at New Mexico State Prison and things are going amazingly well.”
It is certainly so.
Build self-confidence
“The difference from that first class to now is like night and day,” Warden Chelsea White said as she watched the nine inmates diligently prepare the ingredients for quesabirria tacos, pureeing cilantro for salsa and carefully running red cabbage through a slicer.
“I’ve never seen this guy laugh so much,” she said of Tapia.
“Look at him. He never said a word, he never smiled,” she said.
White said inmates taking part in the program now feel more comfortable with themselves and have gained a sense of pride.
“You can see them blossoming and their confidence is growing,” she said.
“It’s only been a few weeks, but the students’ attitudes have adjusted,” White added. “It’s a privilege to be able to be a part of this class, so they hold themselves to a higher standard to continue participating in this type of program. But by participating in future classes, they’re also showing other students what to expect.”
Deputy Director Ralph Lucero said participants “love” the program.
“They tell me every time that this is the best program they’ve ever had in their life. A lot of them have had long sentences, so for them to say this is the best program they’ve had in their entire prison experience says something,” he said. “I’m just blown away by how important this class is to them.”
Classes are usually held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, Lucero said. When Memorial Day fell on a Monday and classes weren’t held, the inmates were disappointed and asked if there would be make-up classes. He credits Ruiz and Martinez with getting the inmates interested.
“Mr. Lewis and Mr. Martinez are from the same neighborhood. They’ve been through the same parts of life, so they have a lot of respect for them,” he said. “When they tell them to do something, they listen better than if they were told by an authority figure. They’re the reason this program works. Without Mr. Martinez and Mr. Lewis, these inmates wouldn’t be as committed.”
White believes the program will help participants stay out of prison after release. To participate, inmates must have a good behavior record and be out of prison for 18 months or less.
“If we can show people that they can be better, they can do better, and get them to believe in themselves, that’s game-changing,” she said.
Martinez recalled that during a recent class, one inmate was amazed at how tasty the salsa he made following Lewis’ instructions was.
“It’s amazing to see the sparkle in his eyes, the smile on his face, the light in his eyes and know that it’s instilled hope in their hearts and souls,” he said.
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