Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

He Served 11 Years In Prison, Then He Bought One

Kerwin Pittman was just 18 years old when he was sent to prison for conspiracy to commit murder, spending 11 years and six months behind bars before his release eight years ago. During his time in prison, Pittman witnessed firsthand the struggles that awaited his fellow inmates upon release, watching friends leave with nowhere to go or face strict time limits on temporary housing arrangements. Now Pittman has made history as what he believes is the first formerly incarcerated person in the United States to purchase a prison, buying the abandoned 400 bed Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro for under a million dollars. His reason for buying the facility is deeply personal: he wants to create the support system he saw so many people desperately need when they leave prison, transforming the place that once held people captive into a beacon of hope and second chances.

Pittman plans to turn the former prison into a reentry housing and workforce campus where formerly incarcerated people can stabilize their lives during a crucial six month program that provides job training and industry certifications. The founder of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services says his own experience showed him exactly what was missing for people reentering society, since he had family support and housing waiting for him but most of his friends had nothing. The campus will train up to 300 residents at a time in high demand trades like electrical work, plumbing, HVAC, and construction, addressing the shortage of skilled workers especially in rural North Carolina. Pittman estimates it will take about two years and $2 million to refurbish the prison while ensuring it no longer looks like a place of punishment, relying on private donations to fund a transformation that local commissioners are calling exactly the kind of program their community needs to help people rejoin life with dignity.

Source: https://ncnewsline.com/2026/01/06/former-inmate-buys-nc-prison-to-help-others-who-have-served-time/

PrevPreviousHockey’s Fluffiest World Record Just Got Shattered
NextThe Newest Barbie Doll Is Making HistoryNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

Animals On Kangaroo Island Thrive Again

January 18, 2026

Five years after a cat proof fence was erected around a 380 hectare sanctuary on Kangaroo Island, endangered animal populations inside are experiencing a remarkable recovery that has surprised even the scientists monitoring them. The Western River Refuge, managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, has seen vulnerable species like the

Read More
Happy News

Town Overrun By 500,000 Bats Finds Amazing Solution

January 18, 2026

The tiny Australian town of Ingham with a human population under 5,000 people faced an unbelievable problem when over 500,000 flying foxes took over the town center, forcing schools to close, businesses to shut down, and even preventing emergency helicopters from landing at the hospital. These large fruit bats are

Read More
Happy News

California’s Plastic Bag Ban Finally Shows Major Results

January 18, 2026

California banned thin plastic shopping bags at most stores back in 2016, and now nearly a decade later the state is seeing real improvements with significantly less plastic bag litter washing up on beaches and clogging storm drains across the state. The original law replaced those flimsy single use bags

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.