Alfonso Martinez-Rodriguez started getting into trouble when he was 14 years old. Born and raised in the Rockwood neighborhood of Gresham, east of Portland, he said he had to find a way out.

“It was a rough place but I didn’t let that stop me,” the 29-year-old inmate at Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City said.

Finding solace in skateboarding, soccer and graffiti helped shield him from his “toxic” family environment.

Martinez-Rodriguez said he remembers being inspired by his cousin when he was a kid to use art as his means of escape.

“Watching him do art … motivated me,” he said.

But then he found the bottle.

Booze became the hole he had to climb out of.

“It’s easy getting sidetracked in life,” he said.

Martinez-Rodriguez discovered the world of partying, and it became a daily habit. Eventually, his drinking became so dangerous that he had alcohol poisoning, and he had to enter treatment a year later.

Then he got in trouble with the Oregon Youth Authority and entered his first correctional facility at age 18 — the North Coast Correctional Facility (now the Clatsop County Corrections Division). While there, he had to learn the language of prison.

“It’s kind of like going to school,” he said.

He admits that he struggled at first to make friends, and to figure out how to live while in prison.

After he was released at age 19, he was able to stay out of jail and sober for several years — until he went to his buddy’s house for a drink.

“All I remember was I ended up in jail,” he said. “(Drinking) has been my downfall.”

Focus on rehabilitation

Martinez-Rodriguez has been incarcerated at Powder River, the minimum-security prison at 3600 13th St. in northwest Baker City, for just under two years.

He was convicted in Marion County on charges of second-degree attempted kidnapping, extortion and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

He’s is one of about 300 inmates at Powder River.

“Everybody knows” who he is, he said.

After spending time in prison during the past decade, Martinez-Rodriguez said he has finally found, at Powder River, a supporting community that he believes will enable him to be successful after he’s released.

Which is the goal for the staff the Powder River, which opened in November 1989.

Officials say they’re laser-focused on rehabilitation.

Two employees — corrections officer Charlie Brinton and administrative service manager Laura Hoopes — traveled to Norway this May to tour three prisons and learn about that country’s approach to prisons and possibly incorporate strategies into Powder River’s operations.

Hoopes said Norway’s prison officials seek to build trust between staff and inmates.

“It gives each of us purpose that permits these individuals to connect with staff,” Hoopes said.

All Powder River inmates can speak with “contact officers” through a program started in 2021 with the help of AMEND, a University of California San Francisco organization working in prisons to help inmates learn valuable skills, specifically self-sufficiency and self-accountability, that can benefit them after they’re released.

Powder River is possibly the first U.S. prison to implement the program. Powder River employees have even trained staff at other prisons, including Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton.

Hoopes said staff ask inmates “What does rehabilitation look like for you?” They want to build incarcerated individuals back up by helping them build and utilize their own support structure.

“We want to help them not return to incarceration. We want them to be our neighbors,” she said.

The 30 trained contact officers work with every inmate to identify negative core beliefs and build a support system to help them through their rehabilitation. Every inmate can meet with any contact officer, at any time, to sit down and discuss what’s challenging them.

“It’s important to have someone lead and guide you to living a completely different life,” Hoopes said.

Inmate’s story

For Martinez-Rodriguez, Powder River has become the catalyst that inspired him to change his life. After being transferred from a medium security prison, he was told by his case worker that he needs to remember he’s getting the second chance he wanted.

“I got my second chance here,” he said of Powder River.

For much of his life, he said, he felt as though someone else was writing and directing a movie in which he had a role.

“The last couple of years I’ve been here I realized I can create my movie,” he said.

After a little over 22 months at Powder River, he serves on the AIC (Adult-In-Custody) Council, a group of six inmates — two from each of the three prison wings — working to present the needs and requests of the prison population to the staff.

“Us vs. them? Nah. It’s like us working together,” he said.

He said the council helps prison staff better understand things that inmates appreciate. Items including a pickleball court, TVs, a misting bar in the yard and a policy allowing inmates to wear shorts rather than denim jeans to lunch were all made possible through the council.

Thanks to Powder River’s programs helping him reconnect with his love for art, Martinez-Rodriguez has spent his time painting with an airbrush. His art can be found throughout the prison.

“Sometimes I’ll just go to the airbrush gun,” he said. “I just like to create.”

He said he has also been able to rebuild his relationship with his parents.

And achieve sobriety.

“To have a good time, I don’t need to be drinking a beer,” he said.

Because of the support he has found in Powder Rive, he has many goals for when he gets out. His earliest release date is February 2025, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections. He plans to marry his fiance immediately after his release, and then open his own airbrushing business.

“You’re here all day. It changes you. You have this wall up,” he said. “You start treatment? You start to find yourself.”

“I got my second chance here.”

— Alfonso Martinez-Rodriguez, inmate at Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City