HOUSTON -- Only a few months ago, Eugene Haywood had no reason to hope he would once again stroll through a shopping mall.
Condemned to a life sentence, Haywood had spent almost fifteen years in federal prisons after committing his third drug offense. His crimes were non-violent – his last conviction was for dealing crack cocaine, his attorney said – but mandatory sentencing laws forced the federal judge hearing his case to order him incarcerated for the rest of his days.
And yet, two months ago, Haywood walked out of prison as one of the non-violent drug offenders granted clemency by President Obama.
“Beautiful thing,” Haywood said, remembering the day he heard he would go free. “Very, very beautiful thing.”
Haywood now lives in a halfway house in downtown Houston, hoping to move into transitional housing here in the city where his sister lives. That’s how he ended up walking through PlazAmericas, the shopping venue once known as Sharpstown Mall.
What brought him to this mall is a story in itself involving an unexpected invitation to visit the White House.
Last weekend, Haywood attended an event called Turnaround Houston, which Houston’s mayor describes as a resource fair for hard-to-employ people, such as former prison inmates. Something he mentioned there caught people by surprise.
“He said, ‘I’m actually going to the White House to meet President Obama, there’s a life after clemency dinner that they’re doing’” recalled Jamay Fishback, the executive director of a non-profit called Career Gear. “And I immediately thought, ‘What are you wearing?’”
Fishback’s group supplies professional wardrobes to former prison inmates and other low-income men trying to find jobs in the Houston area. Career Gear looks like a men’s clothing store, with racks of suits and shelves of shirts sharing space with shoes and neckties.
So she invited Haywood to drop by.
On Tuesday morning, Haywood spent a couple of hours getting fitted for a couple of suits selected by stylists who also picked out matching shirts, shoes and ties. And a couple of students from the Franklin Barber College gave him what he described as his “first real haircut” since he got out of prison.
Another former offender who volunteers at Career Gear stood in front of a mirror with him and taught him how to tie his new ties. Fishback attached a boutonniere to his lapel, stuffed a decorative handkerchief into his coat pocket and patted him on the shoulder.
“All right,” she told him. “You’re ready for dinner.”
Haywood walked over to a mirror and looked himself wearing the first suit he had owned since the second grade.
“Oh, man, that’s crazy!” he said. “That’s amazing! That is amazing.”
The former lifer stood silently in front of a mirror, smiling and laughing at his transformation.
“I feel totally different,” he said. “How about that?”
He walked out of the mall carrying a suit bag with a wardrobe appropriate for two days in Washington, including a visit to the White House.
“It’s really an honor for him to be recognized this way,” said Judith Miller, his University of Chicago-based attorney. “He’s completely turned his life around.”