Elaine Whiteside believes everyone deserves a second chance. That’s why she hired a moving company that only employs ex-convicts when she wanted to move into her new home in Florissant.
“There may be a stigma, but you have to get past that,” Whiteside said. “You have to give people a chance.”
Michael Anders, founder of the C.O.N.S Moving and Storage Company, said he started the moving company in 2007 because men and women released from prison often have trouble finding jobs because of their records.
“I see the struggles and the obstacles they have to overcome,” said Anders, who started the Michael Anders Prison Ministry in 2002. “I know a lot of people coming out of prison, and there is nothing out there for them.”
C.O.N.S. is an acronym for Convicts Once, Now Saved.
Both programs have been successful, and on Friday, August 28, Anders will celebrate with the 7th Annual Michael Anders Prison Ministry banquet. They will also celebrate the second anniversary of C.O.N.S Moving and Storage. The banquet will be held at 7 p.m. at the Airport Hilton, 100330 Natural Bridge Road. Tickets are $50 or a table for $500.
The moving company started in 2007 with a grant from AmerenUE to buy trucks and equipment.
Anders, also known as “Brother Boogie,” said he is empathetic toward his employees because he is an ex-convict himself. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in the 1990s after being convicted of robbing several banks in St. Louis.
While in prison, Anders said, a ministry there helped to teach him about Jesus and he developed a personal relationship with God that changed his life. He started the Michael Anders Prison Ministry in 2002 and the moving company is part of that, he said.
During training for the moving company, the employees learn about truck driving, how to properly move items and the value of good customer service.
Whiteside was very impressed with the movers’ customer service, she said.
“They were on time and were just as sweet as they could be,” she said. “I started to cry because you would never know these young men had been in jail. I would recommend them to anyone.”
Employee Gabriel Gibson said he and others just need an opportunity. Gibson, who works for C.O.N.S. as an assistant administrator, truck driver and lawn care supervisor, said he heard about the moving company while he was working at a temp service. When Gibson met Anders, he realized they knew each other from the Memphis Federal Correctional Institution.
Gibson, who received his associate’s degree in hotel management, helped to plan the banquet and performs many other duties at C.O.N.S.
“There is nothing like earning an honest dollar,” Gibson said.
Gibson, who does not want to disclose the reason he was in jail or for how long, said being a felon means you have to become an entrepreneur or be self-employed because of the difficulty obtaining a job. It has nothing to do with ability, said Gibson, who said he skipped a grade in elementary school because of his math skills.
Gibson, who is the youngest of 11 children, said he began to sneak out of the house at a young age. “When Mom went to sleep, I hit the streets,” he said, adding that he had no male role models at home or in school to turn to for help or guidance.
But he said he has turned his negative into a positive. He is working, writing a screenplay and contemplating starting a magazine. “I’ve never been mentally challenged,” he said. “I could have been a math genius.”
And he should be allowed the opportunity to shine, Whiteside said. “They did a beautiful job for me,” she said. “Just because someone makes a mistake doesn’t mean they can’t turn it around.”
