On the River, Formerly Incarcerated People Celebrate Their Freedom
Written by: Emma Newman, ARC Communications Intern
For three days, dozens of formerly incarcerated people, from 20-somethings to men who had been incarcerated for decades, go out to the river without their phones. Most of them have never been river rafting, and yet all of them decide to take the plunge and take to the white water.
“We all cried on this river, bro,” Joshua, a recent participant, said. “All them years in prison, never being in water like that, looking up in the sky at nighttime and just seeing miles in the sky in a horseshoe. Never could imagine seeing something like that.”
Since launching the program in 2015, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC) has taken members to the ARC Ranch once or twice a year to camp by the river. The trips began when one of ARC’s original members, Ryan Lo, reached out to the organization’s founder, Scott Budnick, with the idea.
“[He] pitched me a trip that was partially community building and partially therapeutic, and, like, being completely and totally cut off from technology and in nature with its healing elements, and, like, the ability to just connect with 40, 50, 60, people that you’re with without technology,” Budnick explained. “I thought it was a great idea.”
Last year, when ARC hosted the trip, its participants weren’t alone. They were surrounded by cameramen, all filming an upcoming documentary about the trip called “AMERICAN RIVER.” The director of the documentary, Dara Horenblas, chose to cover the trip with the goal of highlighting the “human experience” behind it. Specifically, three subjects – Joseph Cortez, a 20-something who was recently released from prison, David Lynch, an older man who recently came home after serving a life sentence, and Anthony Logan, who is in charge of running the trip.
Cortez had decided to go on the trip last year on a whim, and he was able to gain valuable perspective from it.
“[ARC] just told me, like, ‘You want to come?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I want to come. It sound like fun,’” said Cortez. “And, when I came… it ended up just being something whole, totally different. It’s therapeutic and just fun. It’ll clear your mind off a lot that you going through.”
On the other hand, Lynch took the metaphorical plunge because he wanted to overcome his initial hesitation to the idea of river rafting.
“I decided to go on a river rafting trip to challenge myself of seeing it when I was in the inside, like, ‘Those dude’s crazy and the kayaks. Like, wow,’ and me saying, ‘I would never do nothing like that,’” Lynch said.
Like Cortez, Lynch ended up enjoying the trip, especially when he got the chance to hike and go under the waterfalls. He viewed the trip as a “vacation,” and he is excited to be going again this year.
But for Cortez, the best part of the trip was the way it ended — with its participants giving speeches to celebrate ARC members and their journeys. In his speech last year, Joshua specifically highlighted the importance of focusing on ARC’s younger members.
“The reason why I do this work is so these guys don’t have to go to prison for fucking 25 years, or 30 years, or 40 years,” Joshua said with tear-filled eyes. “This system has to change. We have to take responsibility and let these guys make it.”
After three days, the trip was over. But to the coordinator of the trip, the lessons learned on the trip would stick with him.
“Coming down this river, you all go through a couple of struggles with some of these rapids, but you’re gonna overcome it to get to your destination,” said Logan. “That’s just like life. You go through some things in life, obstacles and all kinds of stuff that you can’t be preparing for. You don’t know that they coming, but you make it through ‘em with your head up.”
Budnick also sees this trip as vital in helping ARC members overcome challenges. To him, the ultimate impact of the trip is that it allows people to feel safe and protected within the ARC community.
“I think everyone comes in with something they’re dealing with,” Budnick said. “There’s been death in their family, there’s been broken up relationships and the ability to connect and like be heard, … the whole thing is therapeutic for everybody involved.”
“So much of so much of protecting your own mental health is being a part of the community and having people that you feel comfortable talking with and that you trust,” Budnick added. “And I think on this trip, you build so many relationships with so many people that you trust, you realize that you’re not alone.”
