This is another installment in The Birmingham Times/AL.com/CBS42 joint series, “Beyond the Violence: What Can Be Done to Address Birmingham’s Rising Homicide Rate?” Click here to sign up for the newsletter.

Toni Barnett struggled to find a job for a long time. She was willing to work anywhere, she said, but found it hard to even get through the hiring process at Walmart, because she had a criminal record.

It’s an experience shared by many members of the Offenders Alumni Association in Birmingham. That experience often felt like a hindrance to Barnett – until she began working as a “credible messenger,” and found that her ability to relate with other people affected by the justice system was an asset.

Barnett now works for OAA and helps other people find a life and create a community outside of jail and prison.

Recently, a young man told her he wanted to “live to see 18.”

As Birmingham struggles with an ongoing homicide crisis, Barnett and two cofounders of the program, Deborah Daniels and Dena Dickerson, say their work is crucial to provide guidance to local young adults and reduce violence.

“We want to help navigate them on a path so they can thrive and have a productive life that they can both believe in and achieve,” said Daniels, who executive director and co-founder of the OAA. “But we don’t want them to do that alone because that is not the way community is built. We have to do that together.”

The Offenders Alumni Association began in 2014 in Atlanta later expanding their work to Birmingham. Alliance members were once justice involved and now use their experiences to work with youth and adults in need. Their goal is to create a network of justice-impacted individuals to reduce violence, develop healthy and restorative relationships and provide opportunities for economic, social and civic empowerment.

Now, the organization is adding a program, supported by the national Credible Messengers Mentoring Movement, to train people who can provide support and guidance for those like Barnett and the young man. The project is supported by $500,000 recently approved by the Birmingham City Council.

Read more: How violence prevention efforts have evolved in Birmingham.

Read more: Homicide rate drops in 2023 after record-setting 2022.

Credible messengers are not just people who were once incarcerated or had run-ins with law enforcement. Many are impacted by violence, have experienced homelessness or suffered other forms of systemic marginalization.

“Most importantly, they have stories and examples in their own lives of healing, and restoration and redemption,” Clinton Lacey, president & CEO of the Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement, said. “These folk, armed with the experiences and empowerment of being healed and restored, were passionate about giving back and engaging with people in crisis.”

In 2011, as a probation department deputy commissioner in New York, Lacey dealt with cycles of violence and incarceration. He saw the importance of authentic and empowered relationships between government leaders and community members.

He implemented the Credible Messengers program to provide mentorship and guidance to justice involved people. After three years, he said his New York team recorded a 60% drop in recidivism.

“One of the things we acknowledged at the beginning was the belief that government institutions and law enforcement agencies have an important role to play, but we absolutely need community partnerships to be effective and sustain the success within public safety and wellness,” Lacey said.

In 2015, he implemented another Credible Messengers program in Washington, D.C. Now, in Birmingham, Lacey said he felt inspired by the violence prevention programs he had seen in the city and is excited to see OAA utilizing credible messengers to support those in need.

“Part of what we bring to the table is to help connect those dots,” Lacey said. “With credible messengers, we are going to do the longer-term support life coaching and intensive mentoring, so it all connects.”

The first step of the Credible Messenger Mentoring Movement is to connect with local communities by forming trusting relationships with those who have been harmed by violence and those who are perpetrating the violence. Credible messengers will connect participants to educational resources, career opportunities and mental health services.

Members will measure success by tracking how many people are participating in the CM3 program while recording stories of transformation. They will also keep track of recidivism rates, cases of violence, retaliation and homicides.

Offenders Alumni Association staff already do similar work; the credible messengers program, advocates say, will provide funding to expand it and offer additional aid.

Dena Dickerson, program director, served 10 years of a 114-year sentence for a nonviolent offense. After she was released, she connected with Daniels. From then on, they worked together with other formerly incarcerated people to restore the communities they said they were a part of breaking.

Dickerson has been working with one man for seven years. He went to prison when he was 16 years old, served 25 years and was released at the age of 41.

Three years ago, he was in a devastating motorcycle wreck, putting him in the hospital for two years. Members of the program helped him through this process.

This year, he turned 48. His mother died two days later. His father died five days after. Members of the organization are helping him plan and coordinate the funeral and repass.

“We do life with them. We meet them where they are, truly. We understand them as people and individuals.” Dickerson said. “We go every step and every mile of the way with that individual, until they deem that they’ve gotten what they needed to be successful for themselves.”

Dickerson often speaks to young men in the community to let them know they have a support system. She said children are the people they need to “love on” the most.

Many of the young people the program works with have seen friends die.

“The kid that ran around in a Pampers, cried for a pacifier, ate Popsicles that dripped on his chest, that wasn’t that many moons ago. They will now tell you all they want is to live past 16, past 18,” Dickerson said.

Barnett has her master’s degree in business administration and is very passionate about the kids in the program.

“You do the time, you get out and your background still follows you,” Barnett said. “Being here at OAA, you’re okay to talk about it because the majority of us employed at OAA have a background, and nobody’s background is ever brought up.”

Smiling tearfully, she said the program gave her a second chance.

The members said the program acts as a “release valve” for those who are employed with OAA and many of the participants, allowing them to find support and camaraderie without judgment. Now, they said they hope to give back to their community and help other people make different choices.

“Coming from the community and actually having been those youth and having made some of those same choices that they are now making, we are now able to be that role model to not only show them a different path but to help them navigate,” Daniels said.

“We’ve caused some harm in our family lives; we’ve caused some destruction in our communities. So now we get a chance to give back and kind of make some amends for that.”

Birmingham City Councilor LaTonya Tate, chair of the public safety committee, said she wants to see the work of the credible messengers continue to expand.

Tate said Common Ground and many of the other violence prevention initiatives recently started in Birmingham are an “ecosystem” made to attack the root causes of violence.

“This is about building a community in a transformative and restorative way, building trust and making sure we are listening to those in the community,” Tate said.