Featured photograph: A decorated water tower and Christmas tree in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Location context; this is not the former prison. Photo: Manteo2murphy. CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Kerwin Pittman knew how uncertain life after prison could feel. After serving more than 11 years, he returned home in 2018 facing the task of rebuilding.
Years later, he bought a former prison with a very different purpose in mind. He wants it to become a place where people leaving incarceration can find housing, job training and support.
The property is the former Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Pittman purchased it for $275,000 in late 2025.
Seeing a different future for a closed prison
The facility closed in 2013. Its old rooms and fences still carried the signs of its earlier purpose when Pittman began showing reporters his plans.
North Carolina Health News toured the property with him in January 2026. He described a 19-acre campus intended to offer a steadier transition home.
Through his nonprofit, RREPS, Pittman had already worked on reentry support. Buying the property brought a much larger idea into reach.
He believes he is the first formerly incarcerated person in the United States to purchase a former prison. That remains his claim, rather than an established national record.
Photo: Ronald Charles Blackmore. CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Housing and training are part of the plan
Pittman's proposed Recidivism Reduction Campus would serve 200 to 250 men at a time. Residents could stay for up to six months without charge while preparing for independent housing and employment.
His plans include help with identification documents, health care and practical skills. Training could cover trades such as welding, electrical work, plumbing and construction.
The physical changes matter too. Pittman wants private rooms in place of open dormitories and a setting that feels more like a campus.
These are the project's stated goals. They should not be mistaken for a claim that all beds and services are already operating.
Photo: John Vachon. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Buying the property is only the beginning
The News & Observer's February 2026 reporting described further fundraising and renovation work ahead.
The purchase price was one part of a much larger effort. Buildings must be adapted, programs funded and partnerships developed before the full vision can serve residents.
NC Newsline's reporting, republished by Indy Week, also places the purchase within Pittman's ongoing work to support people returning home.
His experience gives the project a personal foundation. The next measure of success will be the support it can make available to others as the campus develops.