Andre Warship of North Chicago and Jenessa Gonzalez of Antioch have three significant things in common: peacemakers in the Lake County Gun Violence Prevention Initiative, spent time in jail, and are Waukegan Township’s Coalition to Reduce Recidivism’s repatriates of the year.
A Waukegan native, Warship, 46, was involved with gangs at eight years old and sentenced to prison as an adult for armed robbery at 15. He went back more than once before he guided people away from his youthful path, started his own business and joined the peacemakers.
“I used what I learned and did to help them do things differently,” Warship said. “I guided them to resources. I gave some jobs.”
Growing up in Antioch, Gonzalez said her life was centered around church, and she never “smoked, drank, or cussed.” She went to college in Wisconsin and got involved with a schoolmate who was into drugs.
Arrested on a drug charge, Gonzalez, 46, said she was given two choices — testify against him or take a plea. Picking prison, she was sent to a boot camp to shorten the time of her sentence. Upon release, she found work and was promoted to management. She also became a peacemaker.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done to (reduce) gun violence,” Gonzalez said. “I have the ability to make a difference. I could tell people the right way to do it, the human way.”
Gonzalez and Warship were recognized as the female repatriate of the year and male repatriate of the year, respectively, at the Waukegan Township’s Coalition to Reduce Recidivism’s 22nd annual luncheon on Friday in Waukegan for their upward and successful journey through life.
Waukegan Township Supervisor Marc Jones, who oversees the coalition, said after the event, it was a celebration of individual and organizational success, “uplifting, encouraging, and inspiring justice-impacted individuals returning to our community from incarceration.”
“The representation from the public, private, and faith-based sectors that are present speaks to the shared vision that a conviction should not be a life sentence and everyone deserves a second chance,” Jones said. “We’re building bridges to give people a hand up.”
The coalition uses assistance to help people find a career and supportive services to aid them with a criminal record to become self-sufficient, according to the organization’s mission statement.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart, who spoke at the event, started the gun violence prevention initiative in 2022 in the wake of the Highland Park Fourth of July mass shooting. He said peacemakers like Warship and Gonzalez are a key to the drop in gun violence in the area.
“Their hyper-local presence, relentless engagement, and deep community connections empower them to serve as trusted, credible messengers,” Rinehart said. “With this credibility, they connect at-risk youth to services, mediate disputes, gun and connect victims to services immediately.”
Between 2022 and 2024, Rinehart said, after the event gun homicides in Waukegan, North Chicago, and Zion fell 61% and non-fatal shootings declined 62%.
As peacemakers, Jones said Warship and Gonzalez not only developed successful lives after their time in prison, but now, in addition to their careers, use their work as peacemakers to directly help save lives and keep people from going to jail.
“Our male and female repatriates of the year are a perfect example of those who not only deserve a second chance, but who have maximized their second chance to impact the community and inspire others to not walk in a similar path,” Jones said. “
Other award winners were George Moore and his Legacy Reentry Foundation as service organization of the year as well as Mary Roberson and her Northern Illinois Recovery Community Organization (NIRCO) as the employer of the year.
Coalition Legal was honored as the Justinian of the Year, Sylvia Johjnson Jones was feted as volunteer of the year and First Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church was named faith-based organization of the year.
Carlos Martinez, a peer mentor for NIRCO, was given special recognition for “restoring the life of an individual.” Special recognitions also went to Alice Howell and Latoya Howell as founders of F.O.C.U.S., as well as Tiffany Peppers, the senior pastor of Jesus Name Apostolic Church, for its summer camp.
