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A LIFELONG LEARNER
Dion always did well in school, but it wasn’t until prison that he would unlock his love of learning—and grow in his faith.
By Lexi Aggen
Every week when the Sunday school teacher went around the room asking who wanted to repent and be saved, young Dion would raise his hand. He regularly attended Heritage Baptist Church with his friends and stayed involved in the community. He memorized Scripture and could quote large sections of the Bible.
Dion wanted to follow Jesus, and though he performed well in school, he didn't enjoy learning. But it turns out, the education that God had in store for him was not going to be in the institution Dion expected.
A GROWING OPPORTUNITY
Growing up in the ’80s, Dion had many positive influences in his life, even though his father was absent. As a single parent, his mother did the best she could to raise him. She made sure Dion was connected to his neighborhood on the south side of Columbus, Ohio, and that he was active at the local recreation center. Adults there knew him as a good kid, even if he got into trouble from time to time.
Still, the family had difficulties, and they had to rely on food stamps for groceries. While Dion’s needs were always met, he still found himself wanting more. To meet his desires, he started stealing food and toys from his neighbors.
But in eighth grade, Dion received hope for a brighter future when a philanthropist named Erie Chapman visited the recreation center near Dion’s home. Erie had given generously to many different community organizations, but when he met Dion, the interaction left an impression. Erie ended up offering to pay for Dion’s college education.
“God put a lot of amazing people in my life when I was in my youth,” Dion says.
But many bad influences also surrounded Dion. In his neighborhood, he was exposed to alcohol, drugs, gangs, and more. This led his mother to decide it was best to enroll Dion in a private Christian high school. But she couldn’t afford the tuition on her own. Dion called Erie and asked if he would help pay for Dion’s high school tuition instead of college. They settled on a plan: Erie would pay for three years, and Dion’s mother would pay for the last year.
A TURN IN THE ROAD
Going to a Christian school allowed Dion to grow in his knowledge of the Bible and of God. He soon earned a reputation as a hard-working student. He graduated with honors and decided to join the Marines with a friend from high school. He was looking forward to what life would bring. He felt a strong sense of direction.
But the day he graduated, he started smoking weed with some kids from school. He wanted to impress the other teens and win their approval.
“When I started to smoke, I jumped right in, headfirst,” he says. “I started to see how people viewed me, how I was more sociable, how people liked me.”
Then, a day before he left for the Marines, he was assaulted at a party. A man punched Dion, throwing him off balance, and Dion’s head hit a table on the way down. His brain started to swell. As a result, Dion was placed in a medically induced coma. The Marines told him he would have to wait a year to reapply because of the head injury.
[Dion] was looking forward to what life would bring.
SHIFTING MINDSETS
Much of Dion’s life changed following his head injury, and he even started experiencing personality changes.
“I started to get more aggressive, more adventurous,” he says. “I was snappy. I would get angry quicker. … But I didn't understand that it was dealing from this traumatic brain injury.”
Dion began stealing more than just food. He became involved in selling drugs and breaking into houses. Soon, he was arrested and sent to jail for the first time at age 19. While there, Dion felt afraid—but quickly discovered he could operate in this environment by instilling fear in others.
“I could see myself coming to be somebody that people respected and feared more,” he says. “It also became a part of my addiction because the consequences didn’t put as much fear in me the more times I got locked up.”
During this time, he also looked for ways to continue learning and growing. Even though Dion had done well in school, he had never read a book from start to finish. Now, Dion was reading books from cover to cover and participating in any program he could to better himself.
Dion’s life changed following his head injury.
FINDING PURPOSE BEHIND BARS
When his mother picked him up from that first facility, she told Dion she would not return for him the next time. He agreed—he said he was never going back. But one year later, he returned with two charges for burglary.
For Dion, this arrest was a turning point.
“What transpired after my first prison stint was a 13-month crime spree, and they ended up catching me and locking me away, and they saved my life that day,” he says. “August 24, 2006, was a rescue.”
When Dion entered prison a second time, he was committed to making a change. He continued to involve himself in programming of all kinds. When he first arrived, finding programming he was eligible for proved difficult. The only program that admitted him initially was a parenting class. Even though he had no children, he jumped at the opportunity to participate, knowing that any effort would one day be rewarded.
“Programming just became … natural to me,” he says. “I didn’t realize how much I liked education until I [went] to jail.”
Over the next 18 years of incarceration, Dion participated in more than 250 different programs, gained six certifications, earned four licenses, and read more than 2,000 books. He received an award for being one of the top three incarcerated individuals for participating in educational programming.
Dion landed a position in the law library at his facility. Through this role, he advocated not only for himself but for others in his facility and wrote to media outlets, lawmakers, and the president. He even received his paralegal license while incarcerated.
“Some people find institutionalization as being a weakness,” Dion says. “For me, it became a pattern of disciplines. ... It taught me how to read the room and know [my] audience and use my intellect over my emotions.”
Over the next 18 years of incarceration, Dion participated in more than 250 different programs, gained six certifications, earned four licenses, and read more than 2,000 books.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF PROGRAM
In 2022, a friend of Dion’s told him about the Prison Fellowship Academy®—a program that takes participants through biblically based curriculum to help them overcome habitual criminal thinking and encourage participants to live as good citizens. Dion wasn’t sure about it at first, but during the interview with the program manager, he realized it was the program he was looking for.
“I gained so much from the [Academy],” Dion says, “but it also let me know that there was a lot of things that I had learned in other programs that was real, that was being applied still to this day.”
Dion credits much of the program’s power to the Academy manager at his facility. The manager had his own lived experience of incarceration, and Dion noted how impactful it was to go through the program learning from someone who had firsthand experience in turning his life around. Through the Academy, Dion learned financial literacy, integrity, communication, and more.
“People don’t have the type of time to invest in themselves that I did,” he recalls, “and I didn’t take that for granted. The Prison Fellowship [Academy] gave me an opportunity to not only gain tools, but to apply them in that same environment.”
Through the Academy, Dion learned financial literacy, integrity, communication, and more.
A NEW LIFE
Dion graduated valedictorian from the Academy just before his release in early 2024—and he credits his successful reintegration to the lessons he learned in the Academy. Dion entered a halfway house upon leaving prison. Although he was exposed to drugs and alcohol quickly after release, he felt no pull to use them.
Instead, he focused on building his new life by gaining credentials that would help land him a job, especially since he didn’t have a work history. He obtained several certifications including a forklift license. The day after he left the halfway house, he found work with a solar panel manufacturer.
Within a week of his release, Dion found Life Vineyard Church and started attending. He met one of the pastors there who welcomed him with open arms and invited him to continue attending—and Dion did. The church played an influential role in his life after his release.
“My church, it gave me a chance,” he says.
When he moved out of the halfway house, his church started a GoFundMe to help provide furniture and other necessary items for him. His pastor even came with him to a hearing where he received his driving privileges back.
Prior to his incarceration, Dion never had a bill or important document in his name. His lease, credit cards, car, and everything else were listed under his then-girlfriend’s name. Now, his townhome, bills, and insurance are all in his own name. For Dion, this shift felt like a step into adulthood he had not yet taken prior.
Dion has earned back the trust of his family as well. Before his incarceration, his nana didn’t allow Dion in the house for very long. She didn’t like him using the bathroom in her house because she thought he would steal from her. But now, she welcomes him into her home and trusts him to run errands for her.
THE POWER OF A CHANGED HEART
Dion continued to work for the solar company, but when he decided to apply for his commercial driver’s license, he had to put in his two weeks’ notice. To receive the license, he needed to participate in a course that required more time off than his job allowed. He regretted having to resign, but also felt it was the right move.
But after he put in his notice, the company called him back and offered him the time he needed to receive the certification. They didn’t want to lose him as an employee. Dion was elated. He recently received his first raise, a first for not only his job, but his life.
In addition to all his success in employment, Dion has become active in his community. He was recently nominated to be the first restored citizen put on the Franklin County Reentry Advisory Board, which helps those recently released reintegrate into society. Dion also started a motivational speaking business, using his story to inspire others to change.
When Dion was incarcerated, he wrote a 10-year plan for his life. But now, he is learning that God is in control. He knows God’s plan is far better than his own.
“My church, family support, Prison Fellowship, and the multiple organizations that I went to have been essential items in my life that are why I am where I am,” Dion says. “I couldn't have done this by myself.”
As a child, Dion always knew he wanted to be saved. Now, he is living like it.
“My church, family support, Prison Fellowship, and the multiple organizations that I went to have been essential items in my life that are why I am where I am. I couldn't have done this by myself.”
—Dion
