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By Sarai Murdock
Cleveland resident and community resource advocate, Odetta Fields, has dedicated her life to helping others avoid the mistakes she made. From her time in prison to her role in establishing a resource center in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, Jordan’s journey underscores the challenges faced by incarcerated women and the importance of second chances.
Born 1966, Fields was raised in Slavic Village. During her early adult years she dealt with domestic violence while taking care of her kids. She was determined to not allow her kids to be raised in a broken home.
“I ended up getting in trouble, I robbed banks and I went to prison. When I came home, I was back with him. My kids were 18 years old and I ended up back in trouble. I went back to prison and I decided that it was time to leave him.”
A few years later Fields was in a bad car accident with a semi truck, causing the vehicle to hit a concrete wall three times. Her spine was broken and she was told she would never walk again. The truck driver who hit the car left.
“This other truck driver came and he held my hand and told me ‘you’re gonna be okay.’ I thought I was dying. After the car accident, I wanted to find this truck driver who held my hand. Every witness said there was never a truck driver holding my hand. So I feel that there was something on that freeway and that I was here for a reason. The reason is to put my time and all my effort into this community. It kinda opened my eyes. So with everything that has happened in my life and what happened on the freeway that day, I’ve just turned my life around and decided this is what I’m doing.”
Fields started out by helping people around her in the neighborhood. She helped people with their housing problems, giving them resources and even calling departments to come step in.
She found that some clubs/programs were not effective and only made complaints about what was happening in the community. She wanted to create a club that did positive things and got things done.
Throughout her journey she made friends who were just as passionate as she was about making a difference and together they founded the Community Yahoos. Later on she was able to create the Southeast Cleveland Resource Center and a re-entry program for people who want a second chance in life.
Once or twice a month, Fields and her team go into prisons and talk to ex-offenders who come to get help with housing and basic needs like employment and case management. Together they get to the root of the problem as to why the ex-offenders committed a crime to begin with. Through their program, one woman was able to receive resources like housing and hygiene products after coming off of the street, while a gentleman was able to turn himself in.
According to a 2021 report made by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction, 32.7% of released inmates are rearrested within a three-year span.
“I am determined to cut the recidivism rate in Cuyahoga county. Because if you cut the recidivism rate you cut the crime rate, you cut the crime rate you cut gun violence.”
While Fields has been making a huge impact, activism wasn’t an expected career. “I always said I would never be like my mother, I was never going to do what my mother did.. And I’m doing exactly what my mom did.”
Her father was a chemist at Air Products and Chemicals, while her mother worked as an assistant director of University Settlement, temporarily running the hunger center, and was the director of Bishop Cosgrove, a hunger and day drop-in center for the hungry and unhoused people of Cleveland. She was known as an activist who helped her neighborhood.
While Fields has now become secure in her role as an activist, supporting and empathizing for people through their struggles has always been in her nature. Growing up, Fields was very observant of the issues that people around her went through.
“When segregation started, I was in junior high. In high school, I had friends of color and I would have to drive them down Fleet Avenue because they couldn’t walk down” she says. “The street that I’m on now, when I was young, the first black family moved on the street and that’s when the house got blown up and the elderly black lady got killed.” Seeing racial inequality from the outside looking in taught her to treat all people the same, regardless of their identity or background.
These organizations allow people to get help from others who have been in similar positions. Whether it’s homelessness, assault, domestic violence, or incarceration, the community can rely on people that understand the struggle and want to help make those impacting changes to their life.
Through her work, Fields has been able to create a name for herself and improve her lifestyle. She is currently on track to obtaining her associates degree. Fields’ goal is to remain in her city and continue improving her community through resources, support, and motivation.
“My community is my motivation,” she says. “Everybody can change. You can’t let your past keep you down.”
