Roughly 1,100 people returned to Mecklenburg County from prison last year — 74% of them Black — and statewide, more than one in four people leaving North Carolina prisons face homelessness. Charlotte has tried two things. ReConnex, a tech repair shop run by City Startup Labs that hired and trained people coming home, had $400,000 in state money behind it and closed after a year; founder Henry Rock's own assessment was that it "was not the sustainable enterprise we hoped for." The Sheriff's Office runs a transitional house that seems to be working — three-month stays, a foundation to build from. It has twelve beds. Five are occupied, and nobody has said why the other seven are empty. The program big enough to matter failed; the program that works fits inside a house. Plus: Tuesday brings both the first day of school and the board vote on releasing the Crystal Hill investigation, a data center town hall produces a water number and still no draft ordinance, and your week — three dates worth the calendar.

CLT Daily — Charlotte's independent daily briefing. New episodes every morning. cltdaily.com

Sources this episode: WFAE, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sheriff's Office, City Startup Labs, Charlotte Water, Carolina Panthers

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