Christina Green wants to make reentry easier

Christina Green is the program director of the Marcus Garvey supportive housing program located in Brownsville, Brooklyn. After her release from incarceration in March 2019, she joined the Workforce Development group, which enabled her to secure a position as a community health worker. After a series of promotions that saw her rise to program director at the Health Justice Network, Christina assumed her current role as program director at Marcus Garvey in March 2022. She credits her rapid professional growth to her management experience prior to her incarceration and Osborne’s Workforce programs, which provided her with inspiration and judgment-free professional support. “I looked to the counselors there and the case managers, and some of them were formerly incarcerated,” Christina reflects. “They had master’s degrees, and they were these great facilitators. And I was like, ‘You know, I could do that.’”

Christina describes reentry for formerly incarcerated people as “a population within a population, coming home to a new society.” As the program director at Marcus Garvey, she is invested in paying forward the support she received to other people reentering society. She intends to build a safe, supportive, and participative community with the residents at Marcus Garvey. “That’s why I like doing this work … working with trauma informed programs … that understand what it’s like to be an addict, or what it’s like to be in a domestic violence situation, or [to] come home after 25 years of incarceration with no education.” Christina recalls, “I had gained a hundred pounds while incarcerated. I didn’t have any interview clothes and I had no money. I was living off gift cards from the Prepare program and MetroCards.”

Marcus Garvey provides permanent housing and additional reentry services for people returning from incarceration. From financial and tech literacy classes to interview preparation, Christina hopes to make these important reentry services easier to access for residents at Marcus Garvey: “Just connecting people to services, because there’s a lot of services out there if you know where to look.”

A current Bronx resident, Christina has three children and two grandchildren whom she visits often in Dutchess County. She is also happily engaged. “Things are really good,” Christina says. “My life is very, very different, and I’m grateful every single day.” She admits that getting reacquainted with Osborne while working partially remote has been a “learning curve.” Despite the challenges, she’s eagerly looking forward to welcoming Marcus Garvey’s first residents.