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	Photo by Bill Green From right, Janet Wells speaks to an audience as Gary Maynard, Thomasina Hiers, Paul O’Flaherty, Bryan Lamb and Seth Turner of Goodwill Industries International look on. Purchase this photo

Latoya Ortiz is proud to serve customers at a Wendy's restaurant on East Patrick Street, "one of the nicest Wendy's in Frederick ," the 21-year-old single mother boasts with a broad smile.

Those jobs, and the self-satisfaction they get from earning an honest paycheck, are helping to keep them out of a prison cell, they told a gathering of criminal justice representatives Monday night.

Janet Wells and other employers like her are the ones who make a difference in the lives of convicted felons looking for work, Lamb and Ortiz said.

Wells, who runs the Inn at Buckeystown , is pragmatic about her willingness to hire those who have had run-ins with the law. She's hired about a dozen, she said.

People ask her why she's willing to take the risk on someone who has committed a crime.

When people come to her through a work release program, she knows they've been through a qualification process already. It's a privilege inmates earn and one that does not come easy.

"Making mistakes is something that we have all done," she said.

"Some people got caught. Some people got lucky. Some people got smart," she said.

"Everyone needs a second chance," she said. "And sometimes they need a third."

Second chances, via President George W. Bush's Second Chance Act, was the theme behind a panel discussion Monday night in the second-floor conference room at Goodwill Industries.

State public safety and criminal justice representatives were on hand as the headliners at the event about the push to transform inmates into law-abiding citizens.

There was Gary Maynard, secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, his assistant secretary, Thomasina Hiers, and Paul O'Flaherty, assistant commissioner of programs and services for the Maryland Division of Correction.

But it was Wells, Lamb and Ortiz whose experiences pushed the crowd of 75 to the loudest applause.

Ortiz choked up as she recalled how drug use pushed her to attempt robbery. She got stabbed in the process, soon after learning she was pregnant.

Following her lawyer's advice, she obtained long-term treatment for drug addiction and earned her high school diploma.

While on probation, she launched an intensive job search, going to interviews one after the other.

"As a convicted felon, they say, 'We'll give you a call.' But the calls never came," she said.

Her life took a turn for the better almost a year ago when her manager at Wendy's gave her a chance.

"To have someone like that to trust me, to give me a chance, means everything," Ortiz said.

"I'm not that mean, hideous, tragic girl," she said. "That's not me today."

Lamb, too, has changed, in large part due to his job at Goodwill. His criminal career began with an assault arrest. Later, there were drug charges.

More than once, he believed society had written him off.

"Employers can either make or break that person," Lamb said.

"When they step from that (prison) building, what they, what we, need is support."