“My kids are my life,” said Saidrick, while sitting in a cognitive behavioral therapy classroom in READI Chicago’s Englewood location. “That’s who I’m doing all of this for. I need to make sure my kids have everything they could need.”

The father of four has been in READI Chicago for almost eight months and said his children and their mother could not be prouder of him.

“My family sees me doing everything I can do,” Saidrick said. “They’re so proud of me. They tell me every single day.”

In fact, Saidrick has to leave work early on this day to attend his youngest son’s eighth-grade graduation. Saidrick is at every birthday party and every doctor’s appointment, and he fondly recounts taking his eldest daughter shopping for a prom dress last year. These moments are made all the sweeter, Saidrick said, because of the moments in their lives he has missed.

Saidrick was first arrested in 2000 and sentenced to 45 months for selling drugs. He was released early after completing a drug program in prison, and he came home determined to stay on the straight and narrow. For 10 years, Saidrick devoted himself to being a full-time, stay-at-home dad. Raising his kids was his passion, he said, and he had been doing his best to support his family with his savings, but the money was running out. Saidrick tried to get a job, but because of the felony on his record and his lack of formal work experience, no one would hire him. Returning to the drug game seemed like his only option, and in 2014 Saidrick was arrested again and sentenced to two years in federal prison.

Saidrick’s children never came to visit him in prison. He did not want them to see him like that, he said, so instead, they would Skype and talk on the phone.

“The hardest part was when I would call to check on my oldest daughter,” Saidrick said. “She would just break down and cry and say she missed me so much and needed me there to take care of her. I wasn’t there to fulfill her needs, and that hurt me so much. I shouldn’t have been in prison, I should have been there for my kids.”

When Saidrick was released, he knew he couldn’t go back again. He had missed too many birthdays and celebrations, and he was determined to jump back into fatherhood. He devoted himself to finding a job, but struggled with finding employment and housing because of his record. When Saidrick ran into a friend he had met in prison and heard the friend was working as an outreach worker for READI Chicago, Saidrick jumped at the opportunity to participate.

“I learn stuff in READI Chicago every day,” Saidrick said. “Everyone here has potential, but everyone here is also going through something that you can identify with. I’m just trying to pay it forward and help whoever I can, just like they’re helping me.”

When Saidrick finishes READI Chicago, he wants to get his commercial driver’s license and forklift license. The most important thing, he said, is being able to provide stability for his family.

“I’m so proud of my baby,” Saidrick said, speaking of his eldest daughter, who just completed her first year of college, studying nursing. “Whatever she wants to do in life, I’m going to support her 100 percent, just like she’s always supported me.”