RICHMOND, Va. — Perry Whitaker spent seven years in prison and when he was released, he had no driver's license.
Without a job upon his release, Whitaker couldn't pay the court costs and fines he owed, to say nothing of the driving classes he would need to take.
To get a job, he needed to be able to drive.
Whitaker was caught in a vicious circle.
Then a Richmond nonprofit called Drive to Work stepped in.
"I do a lot of junk trash removal. I do a lot of hauling," said Whitaker about his side business, when we met him at his day job driving trucks last week. "I move people. I do lawn care."
Whitaker is a man on the move: he has a regular job driving utility trucks to construction sites.
But after work and on weekends his hauling business called "A Step Above," takes up most of his free time.
All to support himself and those who depend on him.
"I love my children to death," he said. "Yeah, I just love 'em. They're amazing."
But it has been a long, long road for Whitaker to get to this point.
He spent seven years in prison on drug charges, and when he was let out early for good behavior, faced a crushing mountain of fines and paperwork to get his driver's license, which he says everyone needs to be a productive citizen.
"Court costs and fines were pretty steep, and I had to pay all that back, as far as me getting my license," Whitaker said. "A lot of jobs require that you have your license. That's one of the first things they ask you: 'Do you have your Virginia license?' And if you tell them no, they might pass you down or go to the next guy. So it's very important to get your license."
Fortunately for Whitaker, Drive to Work took up his cause in navigating the daunting post-prison maze of requirements.
"It is amazing how many people do not have a driver's license," said Sara Wilson, the president and CEO of Drive to Work. "They can't drive to work. That eliminates 1,500 or more jobs they can apply for. It impacts our workforce negatively."
Wilson, who is an attorney, says the obstacles keeping people from getting their license, or having it restored, can involve thousands of dollars in penalties and a bureaucracy that may have purged an inmate's court records which the DMV then needs for restoration.
"If you don't work, how in the world can you pay a fine?" she asked. "So you can garnish somebody if they owe you money, but you need them to work so that they can earn money to pay it back."
Wilson says success in what can be a months-, even years-long process starts with money but requires much more.
"If you're not motivated and someone else is doing it for you, you're not going to succeed because it can be a very long process to get your license back," said Wilson. "And the third thing is 'mom.' If you don't have mom or a relative or a friend or somebody mom-like that's going to be encouraging you along the way, you are not going to be as successful."
Wilson ran Virginia's Department of Human Resources for more than two decades but says her current role brings her unexpected joy, the satisfaction that comes with each success story.
Her eyes light up when she describes her typical day in court.
"When I took them to court to get their license, they turned to me and whisper, and these are great, big, football-player types," she said. "'This is the first time I'm going to court, and I'm not nervous,' and they came out and they cried, and they give you a hug, and they say, 'you made the biggest difference in my life.' And that's what's so rewarding to me."
Wilson says many of her clients are starting at the bottom of the income scale.
"We represent low income and previously incarcerated people," said Wilson. "They've been to jail, and they are financially challenged. Our typical client is a 46-year-old Black male, unmarried, with three dependents, earning $16.41 an hour. And that's very hard to deal with all the extra expenses that you have and take care of as a member of a family."
She also pointed to some issues that will need to be resolved legislatively or through an agreement with other state agencies, such as the Department of Social Services.
"We have a client that served 20 years, but the child support order continued like he still worked for 20 years, and he was charged 6 % interest all the time for those 20 years," Wilson said. "He owes $140,000, and he's working minimum wage. He does not meet the repayment guidelines because the repayment amount is so much higher to repay in a certain period of time. He can't possibly afford it. That's something we're working on."
Whitaker says he has that crucial family support, but acknowledges Wilson's doggedness helped him stay focused throughout the process, which took him 21 months.
"She would say, 'Hey, where or how's it going? Do you do this yet? Did you do this yet? Did you pay this fine? Did you go to this court?" said Whitaker. "I said, 'Sara, yes, I did. I promise you I did it.' So it's very important to follow through."
But even more important for Whitaker beyond that nearly two-year journey to get a license, a 9 to 5 job, and then start a business, was what he calls the ultimate gift.
Picking up his 10-year-old daughter at school, where we tagged along one sunny afternoon last week.
"Hey boo, what you doin'?" he said, as she grinned wide-eyed at the surprise pick-up.
"You didn't give me no hug, though?" Whitaker said, laughing.
"It feels amazing. So I can get in this truck, get to my A Step Above work, and I can go get my children when I want."
Since its founding in 2007, Drive to Work has received more than 15,000 inquiries across Virginia and from 35 states and Washington, D.C.
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