Whenever Dionne Dowdy-Lacey has a bad day or feels overwhelmed, she seems to run into someone she knows who was helped by United Returning Citizens (URC), the nonprofit organization she founded just over 10 years ago to support individuals returning from incarceration. It’s what keeps her going.

“I see someone who tells me, ‘I got expungement, now I’m in barber school,’ or ‘Miss D, I now have a house for my kids,’” she said. “That is exciting for me, and for me to be a part of that, I’m grateful.” 

Dowdy-Lacey knows how hard it is to access housing, employment and more upon returning home. She and many members of her family have had experience with the justice system. 

“I knew there was something to do,” she said. “We are way smarter than that. What we needed was opportunities and resources.”

Approximately one in every three adults in the U.S. has a criminal record, which includes an arrest, charges or a conviction. With it comes a lifetime of barriers known as collateral sanctions, which prevent or limit an individual’s ability to drive, participate in civic life, secure employment and housing, and much more. URC assists with “the 1/3^rd not heard,” providing housing placement, job search and training, life and financial literacy skills, entrepreneurship, educational plans and school enrollment, character building, expungement, and mental health supports. 

Most importantly, URC sees people for who they are and meets them where they are. “We let them know they matter and they are worthy,” Dowdy-Lacey said. 

Before starting URC, Dowdy-Lacey served as an AmeriCorps Vista for three years for various community efforts, including the Taft Promise Neighborhood initiative, which supported families in the neighborhood surrounding Taft Elementary School on the southside of Youngstown. While in that role, she began organizing felon-friendly job fairs. 

“Everything we did, returning citizens was added to it,” she said. “All the rooms I went in, everything they talked about, I added, ‘This is how it concerns and affects a returning citizen.’” 

A couple of years after starting URC, Dowdy-Lacey was asked to serve on The Raymond John Wean Foundation’s Resident Council. From there, the relationship grew. URC began pursuing grants from the Wean Foundation and later, Dowdy-Lacey participated in the Emerging Leaders program. The Wean Foundation also sponsored her participation in a Rockwood Leadership Institute program designed to help leaders develop skills and build networks. Now, the Wean Foundation is supporting URC’s development of a strategic plan. 

The Wean Foundation is one of those organizations that “gets it,” Dowdy-Lacey said. “For them to see us and say, ‘What do you need?’ means the world to us.”

Today, URC has its own building and seven employees, most of whom have experience with the justice system. “They know the struggle,” Dowdy-Lacey said. “They want to go above and beyond.” 

Next, Dowdy-Lacey has set her sights on building a tiny home movement in Youngstown to provide even more housing opportunities for those URC works with, as housing continues to be the number one barrier. 

It’s just another example of Dowdy-Lacey’s incredible focus and ingenuity. “You find a purpose, you find the need of the people and you help them,” she said. “What else are you here for?”