Fresh Cuts, Fresh Starts: Re-Entry Program Gives Back in Elkhart

ELKHART, Ind.-- Residents participating in the South Bend Community Re-Entry Center are using skills learned during incarceration to give back to the community, offering free haircuts to children at the Tolson Center in Elkhart.

The South Bend Community Re-Entry Center serves as a transition program for incarcerated individuals during the final years of their sentences, helping connect them with employment opportunities and community involvement.

“We provide gentlemen that have been incarcerated for any number of years an opportunity to be able to get employment, to be able to get into the community and give back during their last three years,” said Officer Gabriel Morse, community engagement officer for the South Bend Community Re-Entry Center.

One of the vocational opportunities offered through the program is barbering.

Jeffery Whitsey, a former resident of the re-entry program, said he learned the trade while participating in the center.

“I did not know how to cut hair a year and a half ago when I was with the re-entry center,” Whitsey said. “We started noticing that we were getting short with barbers, so I learned how to cut hair.”

For current resident Andrae Garrett, the program has become part of his transition back into society after decades of incarceration.

“I got 38 days left,” Garrett said. “Eventually I will be going to barbering school and trying to hone my craft.”

The free haircut event also helped provide services to families who may not otherwise be able to afford traditional barber shops.

Garrett said participating in community events has been an important part of rebuilding his life.

“It’s been a long journey, 26 years,” Garrett said. “Going into the re-entry center and doing the steps that was needed to do to make it to this point, to where you can come back and give to the community, it was a big part of my rebirth.”

The South Bend Community Re-Entry Center has about 200 beds available and offers residents opportunities to develop workforce skills before release.

Whitsey, who spent 18 years incarcerated, said the transition support made a significant difference after his release in November 2025.

“To be able to make it to the re-entry center to do my transition period, it was an honor and a privilege,” Whitsey said. “I can only imagine not going to the re-entry center and just getting straight out from prison.”

Morse said seeing children leave with fresh haircuts and watching participants build positive relationships in the community reflects the mission of the program.