John Schmalberger can talk now about wanting to run his own catering company or becoming the head chef at an upscale restaurant. But about five years ago, he was working up an appetite for survival.
The Jersey City native, 51, was a retired Hudson County Police Officer (the Hudson County Police Department no longer exists) who found himself on the wrong side of the law after an attempted bank robbery in 2004.
For the next four years, he became a moving target while he was transferred from one prison to another in the New Jersey penal system. He says that due to his status as a former police officer, he was regularly beaten by corrections officers.
“Once they found out that I was a cop, I had more problems with the officers than with the inmates, because they felt I tarnished the badge,” Schmalberger said.
He thought the final solution to stop the beatings was to hang himself, and one day while serving time in the Essex County Jail in Newark, he tried to do so.
But Schmalberger was saved before he fell unconscious, and survived.
“They showed me that I had to stop chasing my dream and make it a reality.” – John Schmalberger
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Goes to college
Schmalberger credits the Community Solutions staff with helping him enroll in the renowned Culinary Arts Program of the Hudson County Community College in Jersey City within three weeks of coming to their office.
“I can’t say one bad word about them; they are just incredible people,” Schmalberger said. “They showed me that I had to stop chasing my dream and make it a reality.”
Another solution for the community
How exactly did Community Solutions prepare Schmalberger for a life after prison?
They have a multi-step program for those who come through their doors, according to Nilda Rodriguez, the director of the Journal Square office. The parolees, many of whom were Hudson County residents before going to jail, are referred to Community Solutions from the District 4 office of the New Jersey Department of Corrections based in Jersey City.
The program includes education, preparation to take the GED test, choosing proper attire, substance abuse counseling, and employment services, which Rodriguez says fits into the credo of Community Solutions: reason and rehabilitation.
An average of 840 parolees per year go through the Jersey City Community Solutions office for a six-month period, and they all have one thing in common, according to Rodriguez.
“They are all mandated as a condition of their parole to complete our program,” Rodriguez said. “If they don’t complete the program, they are in violation, and will have to be sent back to jail.”
Those who do complete the program reap the benefits like Schmalberger, which make someone like Irina Zaki, a Community Solutions instructor for the past three and a half years, very proud.
“Seeing people who wanted to change their lives and make a difference in their community is wonderful to see,” Zaki said.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.