July 22, 2024
Incarcerated people have few if any decisions to make about their daily life. They are told what to wear, and are given the food someone else has decided to provide. The days are ordered according to the facility's schedule, and visits are determined by the visitor, not the inmate. Eventually the ability to make decisions is impacted.
April 21, 2024
The effort is so successful that we are contacted weekly for more van transportation help.Yet with some funding at an end, and the need continuing to grow, more support is needed. Without continued funding, many of the vans we already have will stop running and a large portion of those who need transportation will lose their jobs. We've found a program that really works, and we're doing all we can to continue.
March 7, 2024
Adjusting to a culture so different from living inside a prison or jail is no small thing and it takes time. Your loved one needs to get a license, or get a schedule with a parole agent, find a job, learn to help out around the house, and get used to his or her new life. Remember they've been told what to do for a long time, and won't want to be told much from you. Go gently, but firmly, and ask for their help.
January 22, 2024
When it comes to reentry, housing can be one of the most difficult needs to be met. Reentrants often leave the highly structured environment of prison or jail with no preparation or place to live, yet, study after study shows that unstable or nonexistent housing heightens the risk of being incarcerated again and about 10% become homeless on day one after release.
December 7, 2023
Most people in prison are not lifers, most are not dangerous, and as Sister would say, all are far more than the worst thing they have done. I can tell you from experience, that there is more hope, goodness, optimism, and energy in most reentrants than they will be given the opportunity to use. But as a society, we have given the deep freeze to people coming out of incarceration for as long as I can remember.
December 21, 2022
For all those working with reentrants, or related to someone who is incarcerated, I end this year with my take on some of the important lessons I've learned about the pitfalls that sidetrack even the most success-oriented returnees. Here you go...
