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Born from one man’s story, RCHD exists to stand in that space between release and restoration.
Our History
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RCHD began with a man named Henry Dee — a man who spent nearly fifty years behind bars, much of it at Stateville. Inside, Henry carried himself with quiet dignity. He wasn’t affiliated with a gang; he walked alone, and yet everyone knew him. Even officers and administrators spoke his name with respect. Around the year 2000, a young man named Andre Ruddock met him while working as a porter in the segregation unit known as “I House.” Andre, still in his early twenties, admired Henry’s calm presence and unshakable patience. He watched how the old man endured each parole denial without bitterness, how he still encouraged others to keep their dignity intact.
Two decades later, in 2021, Andre would come home from prison himself. Life was beginning to open up again when he learned that Henry Dee had also been released — but was living in a homeless shelter, the news hit hard. Andre couldn’t stop thinking about it: a man who had endured half a century in prison, now sleeping in a shelter. He reached out, reconnected through mutual friends, and went to see Henry in person. The man who once filled a room now sat small and frail, fighting complications from diabetes. It was painful to see, and it stirred something deep in Andre — not just sympathy, but responsibility.
Determined to help, Andre contacted Housing Choice Partners (HCP) to ask if anything could be done. His plea reached their leadership, and within a week, they found Henry an apartment in Midlothian. On March 31, 2022, Henry saw it for the first time. In the days that followed, Andre, along with other volunteers, came together to clean, arrange, and furnish every corner. It was a labor of love, a small redemption for years that could never be returned.
Henry never got the chance to live there. His health declined rapidly, and just months later, he passed away from complications of diabetes. Yet those who had stood beside him knew that something profound had happened—not only for Henry, but for them as well. They had witnessed how one man’s struggle exposed a gap no one else was addressing: the needs of older men and women returning home after decades away, stepping into a world that had moved on without them, and too often finding themselves facing homelessness or despair.
Returning Citizens In Memory of Henry Dee (RCHD) was born from one man’s story and it exists to stand in the space between release and restoration, and to make sure that no one’s second chance begins at a shelter door. Dignity, housing, and compassion can rebuild lives.
Listen to the 2024 This American Life Podcast featuring the Case of Henry Dee, nominated for a Peabody Award.