Brian got involved early in his life with methamphetamine deals and paid a heavy price.

Incarcerated and sentenced to 10 years in the federal prison system, he served his time. But it was a new year and he was ripe for redemption inside the federal building on West Third Street.

Surrounded by monitors watching his progress to adjust to society outside prison walls, Brian was offered a way out of the darkness of the past at a recent session of the Court-Assisted Re-Entry Program that began about four years ago in the U.S. Middle District.

“I got a job hauling cattle at a local farm,” Brian told local court officials and a group of eager-to-help possible mentors from the Williamsport Rotary Club.

Without such guideposts, Brian and other ex-cons such as Ty, Amir, Stormy and Will are considered likely to re-offend and go back to prison.

As Brian and the others shared their struggles and quests to find jobs and reconnect with family, the reality of life for ex-convicts touched the Rotarians.

“What moved me is, they don’t stand much of a chance and they need all the help they can get,” said Ron Cimini, of the Williamsport Rotary Club, who wants to attend another session of the program with other Rotarians. “My recommendation is that it would be worth their time just to see the situation these people are in.”