Guest Post: How Two Parallel Lives Converged for Justice
This guest post was contributed to The Doe Fund’s blog by Dave Long, Executive Director of The Liberty Fund.
Even though I first met George McDonald just five years ago, in many ways he and I ran parallel lives. When George helped found The Liberty Fund—NYC’s first and only citywide charitable bail fund—our lives converged, united in pursuit of justice.
George began his mission to end homelessness in the mid-1980s, when he spent 700 consecutive nights handing out clothing and sandwiches to the people living in Grand Central Terminal. Back then, I was beginning my public service career as a young transit cop, working just a few blocks away in Times Square. During this time, NYC experienced several terrible, racially-charged crimes, including the murder of Michael Griffith in 1985, the murder of Yusef Hawkins in 1989, the Central Park Five case, and the Crown Heights Riot in 1991. It was also a time when both the City’s homeless and jail populations increased significantly.
These events inspired both of us to change a broken system. George and his wife Harriet created the Ready, Willing & Able reentry program, which built The Doe Fund into NYC’s leading agency in reducing recidivism and homelessness through workforce development. Meanwhile, I became an attorney, an advocate, a mediator, a college professor of criminal justice studies, and now, the Executive Director of The Liberty Fund.
When I first met George—during the interview for my current role—we became immediate kindred spirits. That’s because we both shared a deep conviction that the system can be unfair, and that we must do everything we can to proactively lead change. That day, George told me about the terrible fate of Jerome Murdough, a homeless former Marine who died inside an overheated cell in a mental health unit at Rikers. That tragic story compelled George to action. It’s the spirit behind the creation of The Liberty Fund—and the spirit that continues our reform work today.
Much has changed since George handed out sandwiches at Grand Central 35 years ago. We have witnessed sweeping criminal justice reforms in New York State, which in addition to discovery and speedy trial rights also includes bail reform that drastically limits money bail and pretrial detention for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felony defendants. Bail reform is allowing more people to be released on their own recognizance (ROR) into the community as they resolve their legal matters, which ultimately improves public safety.
But while these are real wins, other issues have remained stubbornly intractable since the 1980s. Large populations still experience homelessness and mental illness, yet lack the support and investment they need to successfully reenter society. Black and brown people continue to be disproportionately arrested for misdemeanor crimes, including non-violent, non-criminal parole violations. A criminal record continues to disqualify people of housing, employment and other benefits, disabling efforts for real economic inclusion. These issues—along with the recent bail reform rollbacks, critical service gaps, and rising detention costs—remind us of the work ahead.
Today, The Liberty Fund is tackling these challenges. We ensure justice reform momentum by connecting clients to best-fit community-based services in order to prevent recidivism. Our voluntary, person-centered approach allows clients to determine their interventions—which builds rapport, trust, and personal agency. As an extension of George’s legacy, The Liberty Fund fills a significant social service gap, brings racial equity to NYC’s criminal justice system, and creates a pathway to economic inclusion for those who have suffered long-term systemic oppression.
We all know that The Doe Fund will continue George McDonald’s innovative vision for generations to come. Take comfort that his spirit also lives on in all the work that The Liberty Fund has done, is doing, and will continue to do.
Thank you, George, for showing all of us the way forward.
