Charles Thornton is another example of an ascendivist. Which begs the answer why use a term like "ex-con" to identify a person? Especially one who has so obviously removed himself from the thoughts and behavior of a convict.
Charles Thornton is a real estate magnate. But that was not always true. He was arrested for breaking and entering at the age of 16 years old. Today, he owns that very same property.
As a husband, father and grandfather who owns 18 properties Thornton is totally different from the person he was thirty years ago. That was when he went to Lorton Reformatory, the then local prison for the District of Columbia.
A native of Northeast Washington, DC Charles was a standout on the city's H.D. Woodson High School basketball team. Only Nineteen years old at the time he was given a ten year prison sentence. He returned to a city totally changed by the crack cocaine epidemic. He began using the drug and his life took a turn for the worse. In only two months his life became a total shambles.
Then came his transformative event and a new direction. His daughter gave him a look which changed him for ever. Simply looking away when she saw him triggered a difference in his thinking and behavior. Thornton joined a twelve step group where he met Joe Lusky. Lusky inspired Thornton to "get involved with the American system."
Thornton's involvement began with the purchase of his first investment property, which also happened to be Lusky's residence.
Although he no longer develops real estate, Thornton continues working with returning citizens. He shows them what it takes to reenter society. He is doing for others what was done for him.
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