Kerwin Pittman, the formerly incarcerated man who bought the Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro, got good news Wednesday during a N.C. Joint Reentry Council meeting.
Pittman, who says he’s the first formerly incarcerated person to purchase a prison, learned that the money he spent to buy it will be put back into the facility.
Kerwin Pittman recently purchased this abandoned 400-bed prison in Goldsboro to create re-entry housing and a workforce campus for formerly incarcerated people. (Courtesy Photo)Leslie Cooley Dismukes, secretary of the NC Department of Adult Corrections, shared the news about the proceeds from the sale. Dismukes said state law allows the department to use the proceeds to improve such facilities.
“I think that is a pretty awesome, whole-circle moment,” Dismukes said.
Pittman did not know that was a possibility until Dismukes shared the news with the reentry council and dozens of visitors who attended the council’s first meeting of 2026.
“It feels good to be able to purchase the facility and give in one way, but also to know that funding is being funneled back inside the institution to help those who have been incarcerated better themselves,” said Pittman, a council member.
Pittman is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, Inc. (RREPS). He committed to helping others leaving prison after serving 11 years, six months in prison for conspiracy to commit murder.
He bought the prison to create re-entry housing and a workforce campus where formerly incarcerated people can attain job skills or industry certifications. Pittman envisions residents training to become electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, construction workers or other trades that are in high demand.
Pittman estimates it will take up to two years to get the former prison ready for as many as 300 residents who would live on the campus until they complete a six-month program. Another class of up to 300 would replace the previous residents each six months, he said.
Pittman envisions residents studying and training to become electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, construction workers and other trades that are in high demand.
“North Carolina is leading the way in recidivist reduction and reentry and we’re the first organization to do this in the country,” Pittman said.
In an interview with NC Newsline earlier this week, Pittman said he spent “under a million dollars” to purchase the abandoned prison. He estimated that it will take as much as $2 million to refurbish the prison. He said he planned to rely on private donations and to pursue federal, state and local grants.
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