Offering a Fresh Start
Bemidji man aims to start food truck to offer felon-friendly employment
He thought it would be a new chapter, a new beginning.
But after Daniel Barrientez Jr. was paroled from prison, he found re-entering mainstream life to be much more difficult than he had imagined.
“I was naïve,” Daniel said. “I had never been to prison before. I had been to jail and released before, but I had never served any time. This was all new to me, the whole experience … I just kind of thought, I did my time, I’d get a job, and start my life over again. I paid my debt. But once I got out, I realized it’s nothing like that.”
Even before his release, Daniel had gotten a glimpse of how tough the transition could be. Barred from any contact with felons and unable to live with anyone receiving governmental subsidies due to his own record, identifying a place to live had been a challenge.
“I couldn’t even stay with my own mother,” Daniel said. “The only person who checked out was my sister. She had a small house and I moved into the basement.”
The clock started ticking as soon as he was free: Daniel had 30 days to secure a job.
“I am putting in applications, and I’m not getting a call, people don’t want to hire the felon who just got out of prison,” he said.
Daniel learned he could go to college full-time and still meet the qualifications to remain on parole.
“My passion is cooking,” he said. “It didn’t really start until I was locked up and didn’t have food. I would just watch the Food Channel all the time, eat my ramen noodles, and pretend I was eating these fancy foods on the cooking channel.”
He graduated from the Minneapolis Community & Technical College with a degree in culinary arts. He began applying for work, excited to step into the culinary world but, again, met resistance due to his record.
“As soon as they bring up the question, I can always can see the shift,” said Daniel, recalling past interviews. “I try to be as honest as I can. I mean, I’m an open book, everything I’ve done has made me who I am. I wouldn’t change anything. Not that the things I did were good, but I wouldn’t change the outcome. You know, it made me who I am.”
With bills to pay, Daniel walked away from his dream, taking a job at a shipping and receiving plant. Six years later, he was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He moved north to Bemidji.
A better way
Daniel knows that, in many cases, going back to prison can be easier than staying out.
“Just about every single person that I was friends with or knew, just about every single person went back – and some of them for a long time,” he said.
Having experienced difficulties himself, he is now working to provide support and opportunities for those leaving prison. Daniel has been selected as one of the two Northwest Minnesota fellows for the Initiators Fellowship, a two-year fellowship that will support him along his journey toward establishing a taco food truck business to employ felons.
Daniel is joined by Brenna Rollie in representing Northwest Minnesota in the 2022-2023 cohort. The Initiators Fellowship launched in 2016 but has now expanded into this region, as the Northwest Minnesota Foundation joined the fellowship as a partner organization.
The fellowship is designed to further and support social entrepreneurism, business ventures that also aim to address a social problem. Fellows receive an annual $30,000 stipend during the two-year program, which also includes comprehensive programming, executive-level mentoring and leadership training, ongoing education, and support.
The fellowship kicked off last month. Daniel’s initial goal is to start a food truck and perhaps someday expand into a brick-and-mortar restaurant. In the meantime, he is also partnering with the Northwest Indian Community Development Center to provide mentorship and opportunities to those who, like him, are struggling to readapt to mainstream society upon leaving prison.
“I’m 11 years out, and I haven’t gone back,” Daniel reflected. “I’m not rich. But I have just closed on my house. I’m about to start my own business. I’m trying to start these programs. I can be an example for these guys.”
