MUNCIE — Can a felony conviction be expunged from a criminal record? In some cases, the answer is yes. And Brother 2 Brother United Incorporated wants young men to know about it.
48-year-old Donovan Harvey is a father of five children under the age of 12. He was released from prison in 2010 after serving time for drug convictions.
"I like to go to my kids' school, and I love to volunteer in schools, and they told me I couldn't volunteer because of my convictions," Donovan Harvey, a former felon, said.
Harvey who works at Gholar & Gholar Funeral Home sought legal help, and the expungement of his record is supposed to happen next month.
"You can change. You don't always have to say 'I can't,'" Harvey said. "I want to show that I was out there. I have gang-banged. I done it all. Once you make that decision to change your life you just have to do it."
Edward Fuse, 54, feels the same way. He served time with Harvey at the Miami Correctional Facility for battery and assault. Today he is an entrepreneur rehabilitating homes.
"I'm now a business owner. I have contractors working for me. It's possible," Edward Fuse, another former felon said. "You look at that word impossible. I'm possible. Brother 2 Brother is sending that message out there. " Fuse is in pursuit of expunging his record as well.
Melvin Kelly created Brother 2 Brother United. He has been circulating fliers heralding their next event to assist young people.
"Instead of wasting time doing nothing. How to volunteer and help other people and receive it back to yourself," Melvin Kelly, Brother 2 Brother United Inc. President. "Let them know we've been where they are. We've been in trouble. We've made mistakes. It's not a problem to make a mistake. It's what you do after the mistake is what is important."
Young people who want to be inspired and connect to Brother 2 Brother are invited to a breakfast and forum March 23, at Prie Hall in Muncie.
