David Garlock: A little background on who David Garlock is and what his life has been like as a returning citizen

       David Garlock is an alum from Eastern University who graduated in May, 2016. After only nine months of being out of prison, Garlock started attending Eastern in January, 2014. Before attending, he had applied to two different colleges. He told people at a prayer group that he needed them to pray for him to help make this decision. That night, someone told him that “God is going to be working in your life tonight.” When we went home after the prayer group, he received one letter in the mail. The letter was a happy birthday postcard to him from Eastern.

      Later, he heard a sermon where the pastor talked about Revelation 3:7-8 which says “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close; and what he closes, no one can open: “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.“ He believes that both of these things called him to Eastern University.

      Before he came to Eastern, he was living in Alabama and needed his parole to be moved to Pennsylvania. Bryan Stevenson, his lawyer, sent in this request in November of 2013. Normally, the request would take six months to a year to happen, but for Garlock, it was only three weeks. He viewed this as another sign from God that he was meant to be at Eastern. Throughout the two and a half years at Eastern, he majored in urban studies with a focus in criminal justice and social welfare. He stated that Megan Acedo, Dr. Kimberlee Johnson and Dr. Sheryl Van Horne all had a significant impact on him while attending college at Eastern.

      During his time at Eastern, he also met Jane, who is now is wife, in April of 2015. They met randomly at a doctors office and hit it off right away. By August, they got married to each other. Garlock said that her parents accepted him and loved him for who he was and for his past. He was extremely grateful for this because it was always a fear of his that this would not be the case. They now live together in Lancaster where he works at New Person Ministries.

      He started this job only two days after graduating and really loves this job. It is a Christian reentry home for primarily men who have created sex offenses. There, he is a program director who helps with resumes, job applications, personal growth, and budgets. David Garlock’s story shows us that no matter our past, we can still succeed in life and help spread God’s justice. Two fun facts about Garlock are that he was the mascot at Eastern a few times and while in prison, he wrote 2,000 poems which he still has today.