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

Communities Across America Are Banning AI Data Centers And The Number Just Jumped From 8 To 78

May 10, 2026

According to the U.S. Data Center Moratorium Tracker, communities across the country have been pushing back against the rapid expansion of AI data centers with growing success, with the number of active bans and moratoriums jumping from just 8 in May 2025 to 78 today, including 50 active restrictions and

Read More
Happy News

An Alaska Animal Shelter Lets You Borrow A Dog For 48 Hours And It Is Leading To More Adoptions

May 10, 2026

The Anchorage Animal Care and Control shelter in Alaska launched a program in spring 2025 called Tails on Trails that has since become one of the most talked-about shelter initiatives in the country, pairing volunteers with a shelter dog for 48 hours and sending them out to explore the trails

Read More
Happy News

Scientists Gave Monkeys A Reward-Free Video Game And They Played Nearly 100 Rounds Anyway

May 10, 2026

Researchers at Kyoto University’s Institute for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior set out to test whether curiosity in Japanese macaques follows the same pattern observed in humans, and what they found should resonate with anyone who has ever gone down a late-night internet rabbit hole for no practical reason

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.