On an ordinary summer day, a white delivery truck turned out of a commercial lot and rumbled down a narrow cobblestone street in Red Hook, Brooklyn.<\/p>\n
The truck looked like any of the other hundreds of hulking vehicles that crisscross New York City, aside from a \u201cstudent driver\u201d sticker on the front.<\/p>\n
But the day marked an important milestone for the man behind the wheel, who wore a grin and a black baseball cap.<\/p>\n
Three months earlier, Christopher Stewart was still on Rikers Island. He was part of the jail\u2019s first cohort of detainees to graduate from a commercial driver\u2019s license certification course while still behind bars \u2014 and the first among them to be released, start his in-person driving practice, and even get a six-figure conditional offer of employment.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI’m just excited. It’s overwhelming to be at this part, but at the same time, there\u2019s more work to be done to get the license,” Stewart, 43, said before climbing up into the truck\u2019s cab beside his instructor Igor Elisman. \u201cIt\u2019s something that’s giving me motivation and drive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The training is part of a free workforce development program called Next Mile NYC that launched in 2025 and is expanding to people across the city who have had past involvement with the criminal justice system \u2014 whether they\u2019re still incarcerated, on parole or struggling to find economic opportunities because of their history.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s made possible through a partnership between the Mayor\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice and Emerge Career, an organization that helps connect people who have had involvement with the criminal justice system with lucrative jobs in industries that need workers. Emerge is actively working with 800 people across New York City alone, with the goal to help them find work as commercial truck drivers and diesel technicians.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aThe thesis behind Emerge Career is that there’s a huge skill trade shortage all across the country. About 2 million job openings and growing,\u201d said Uzoma \u201cZo\u201d Orchingwa, the co-founder of the nonprofit, \u201cA lot of justice-involved individuals both who are currently incarcerated and formerly incarcerated have ridiculously high unemployment rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program is funded through the Mayor\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice which has plans to increase funding from $2.9 million this fiscal year to $5 million in fiscal year 2027.<\/p>\n
MOCJ Director Deanna Logan called it \u201ca win-win\u201d \u2014 for the people the program helps stabilize and for New York City taxpayers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe use tax dollars to support individuals in our programmatic work, but we are investing $10,000 per person, and then we’re getting back all of the tax revenue that comes from individuals getting gainful employment at a $100,000 salary,\u201d she said, \u201cIt’s definitely a return on investment that you don’t get when you have people sitting in Rikers Island for $500,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI’m just excited. It’s overwhelming to be at this part, but at the same time, there\u2019s more work to be done to get the license,” said Christopher Stewart, a former Rikers detainee.<\/p>\n
Brittany Kriegstein \/ Gothamist<\/p>\n
This spring, the program newly collaborated with the city\u2019s Department of Correction to allow detainees to begin training while still behind bars at Rikers. On March 30, Christopher Stewart and six other men became the first group to graduate, posing in green jumpsuits with their certificates. They were eligible for the program because they were all serving a \u201ccity sentence\u201d at the jail \u2014 meaning they had been convicted of lower-level, nonviolent offenses requiring less than a year of incarceration.<\/p>\n
Correction Commissioner Stanley Richards was one of the speakers to address them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOutside these walls, outside this facility, the next step of your journey is waiting,\u201d he said. \u201cYour possibilities are unlimited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richards had special words for Stewart, who was slated to be the first graduate to be discharged: \u201cRemember, you\u2019re the first one out. Make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Stewart, who was born and raised on the Lower East Side, it wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing after his release. He suffers from dyslexia, and he said it took him multiple tries to pass the written commercial driver\u2019s license exam: an hourlong multiple choice test that covers topics like air brakes and tractor-trailer maneuvers. He said a staff member from Emerge would stay in the office late to coach him until he passed.<\/p>\n
The hard work paid off, as Stewart finally found himself face-to-face with a truck\u2019s engine compartment on a humid July morning in Red Hook. He already had one pre-hire letter, conditioned on him passing the remainder of his training requirements, from Ohio-based hauling company Dutch Maid Logistics.<\/p>\n
Elisman, the instructor, was walking him through a pre-trip inspection, explaining how each bolt and instrument should look and function. He said that working with formerly incarcerated people has been a lot more rewarding than he expected.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aThose people, they went through a lot in their lives, and you feel it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou have to put much more energy in to help them out and sometimes it’s not easy. But at the end, you see their happy faces, some people actually cry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bronx native David Hennis was in Stewart\u2019s shoes last spring. He said he connected with Emerge through a Facebook ad after struggling to find work with his criminal history, which started with an arrest when he was just 15. Several months later, he had earned his CDL and a starting salary of more than $80,000 as a driver with Western Express.<\/p>\n
David Hennis graduated from the Emerge program last year and is now driving for Western Express.<\/p>\n
Courtesy photo<\/p>\n
\u201cI could afford to leave New York and find a place to live in North Carolina,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Now, Hennis traverses the country, hauling everything from mail and clothing to water and paper. He was recently sent to California for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the aesthetics… it’s just so beautiful driving through the mountains and the desert,\u201d Hennis said.<\/p>\n