Claude Robinson is the manager of Rainbow Lodge, a home in inner Sydney for men just out of prison. Claude knows the place well because nearly 20 years ago he was sent there himself.
At the time, Claude was a heroin addict who did crime to pay for his habit and wound up in a minimum security jail. Then after he assaulted a prison guard, he ended up in one of Australia's toughest prisons - Goulburn Correctional Centre.
While Claude was inside, his father died, and he found out that he had inherited $60,000.It was a chance to start a new life when he got out of prison.
But instead, he and a girlfriend checked into a hotel in Kings Cross and began buying heroin. Within weeks, all of Claude's inheritance was gone.
In 2006, Claude was back in prison when he began to change his story with the help of a rehabilitation program called Nara Ngura run inside Long Bay.
He got off drugs, went to TAFE, and started working his way back to Rainbow Lodge.
Claude now leads a team of people helping men who have walked a similar path to his own.
At the Lodge, they aim to help create a new pathways to begin to reverse the effects of trauma and incarceration.
Help and support is always available:
The National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline is a free and confidential 24/7 phone service that provides counselling, advice, and information for those struggling with addiction. Call 1800 250 015.
Learn more about Rainbow Lodge
Read about Australia's Justice Reform Initiative's campaign Jailing is Failing
Since the episode aired, Rainbow Lodge have begun a Therapeutic Transport program .
This program transports Aboriginal men and women who are on remand in NSW to treatment centres across NSW, including pregnant mothers.
Claude says: "We have transported 37 people so far this year saving the community over 1 million dollars and hopefully reducing crime and transforming the participants' lives."
Originally broadcast November 2024.