Why Work Experience Matters After Incarceration
Stable work is a central part of every Canadian’s life. For many of us, a job provides security, daily necessities, a meaningful way to use our talents, and the means to enjoy life with the people we care about.
For someone leaving prison, stable work is even more essential. Just as employment plays a significant role in the average person’s life, it is often the foundation that allows former inmates to build happy, healthy, productive lives in our community. A job provides income, routine, responsibility, social connection, and a reason to keep moving forward. Without these things, life tends to spiral out of control.
However, finding employment with a criminal record is incredibly difficult. A Public Safety Canada study that followed more than 11,000 people released from federal institutions found that only half had employment over an average 14-year follow-up period. Among those reporting employment, the average employment income was just $14,000—not nearly enough to build a stable life.
That matters because employment is closely connected to successful reintegration. Correctional Service Canada reports that people who find employment in the community are almost three times less likely to return to federal custody. Those who don’t find work often return to old, destructive habits and end up back in prison within two years of release.
A Place to Gain Experience and Rebuild Confidence
Finding and keeping meaningful work is therefore an important part of helping people establish stability after incarceration. The Hidden Treasures thrift store helps make that possible.
Hidden Treasures provides opportunities for people on parole, work leave, and other stages of community reintegration to gain practical work experience in a real retail environment. At the store, participants develop skills that employers value, including communication, teamwork, organization, reliability, customer service, and everyday workplace habits. These employability skills are highly beneficial for finding and maintaining work after release from prison.
But there’s another important part of the experience that is harder to put on a résumé: community connection.
People in prison tend to have few real, healthy relationships and are often completely alone upon release. Hidden Treasures allows them to interact with others in a healthy, ordinary environment and start forming the relationships they need to get back on their feet. Participants work alongside volunteers, mentors, and community members who offer encouragement, consistency, and a welcoming place to belong. Those connections may seem ordinary to most people, but to someone who has felt like an outcast for a long time, it can be a life-changing experience.
You Can Be Part of the Team
Hidden Treasures relies on volunteers to keep this supportive workplace running. Volunteers help organize donations, prepare merchandise, stock shelves, maintain displays, assist customers, and handle other everyday retail tasks. Along the way, they work with other volunteers and people who are gaining experience as they transition back into the community. It’s an opportunity to support second chances for people impacted by incarceration while developing useful experience of your own.
Right now, we’re inviting high school students in the Chilliwack area to become Hidden Treasures volunteers. This is an especially meaningful opportunity to gain practical retail skills, learn to work as part of a team, and complete volunteer hours that make a real difference for someone trying to make the most of their second chance.
If you’re looking for a place where your time after school can directly impact our community, learn more about volunteering at Hidden Treasures here.
