DETROIT – What would you do if you got a second chance?
On Saturday (April 11), hundreds of people will be looking for just that during the Detroit Pistons’ first Social Impact Summit, at the Henry Ford-Pistons Performance Center.
The event is a collaboration between the Pistons, the NBA, and the city of Detroit.
“We have four focus areas for this event,” Faith Sheffield, the Pistons’ community and social responsibility coordinator, said on Friday. “Second chances, giving people the opportunity to get their records expunged, fair chance housing, mental health, and civic engagement.”
The Pistons held a similar event two years ago that focused solely on expungement.
More than 500 people have already registered for Saturday’s summit, which also coincides with April as Second Chance Month, and will feature more than 30 nonprofits.
“We’ve revamped it to really impact more than just people that need a second chance, so that’s why we added those focus areas,” Sheffield said. “April is Second Chance Month, so they’ve been great every step of the way, and you know they’re the experts, so we lean on them.”
The NBA’s Social Justice Coalition, a joint venture of the NBA’s Players and Coaches’ Associations, helped to organize the event.
Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is a member of the coalition’s board.
“What’s so important is for us to work shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm with teams like the Pistons, to use the platform, to use the brand, quite frankly, to support our communities,” Mannone Butler, the Coalition’s head of programs and partnerships, said. “One in three Americans have a criminal record, so it’s an issue that touches everyone in some way.”
“It’s a bipartisan issue as well,” Butler said. “And so, what we find is that issues like second chances bring us together. We’re in the business of bringing folks together.”
Saturday is also the 5th anniversary of Michigan’s “Clean Slate” law, which automatically expunges some criminal records for eligible citizens.
People with sex crime, certain violent, or DUI convictions are ineligible.
However, others may be eligible for expungement but either do not realize it or do not know how to proceed.
“We wish more people knew about it,” Madeline Weekley, an expungement specialist with Project Clean Slate, a free program for Detroit residents that has helped people get their records cleared for 10 years. “We’re trying to spread the word every day, even for people who are not city of Detroit residents. There are programs out there who provide free expungement services just like we do.”
Project Clean Slate will be at Saturday’s event and will help those seeking an expungement get started on the process.
Expungement of criminal records can open the door for everything from employment to housing to adoption.
“We had a client who was able to foster his nephew after his expungement,” Weekley said. “If you’re hesitant about expungements, or you don’t know if you need it because you like your job, there’s a lot of other opportunities out there that expungement can provide.”
Registration is officially closed, but anyone who wants to participate is welcome to walk in.
The first session starts at 10 a.m., while the second will be at 1 p.m.
“This is not just good for the individuals and good for our communities,” Butler said. “We are talking about millions of incredibly talented individuals who are ready to be a part of the workforce in really meaningful ways.”
So, opening the door to a second chance,” Butler added, “is really a way to unlock our economy.”