A 2nd Chance Indiana team was there, including Kimberly Smith, one of our job counselors at the Marion County Adult Detention Center. They all worked with many reentrants, going through the 2ndChanceIN.com web site so they could apply for any jobs that fit their criteria, right online. Lots of good results came out of this effort for both the reentrants and their families!

Photo top (LtoR): Scott Whiting, Vice President, 2nd Chance Indiana; Anna Mundy and Director Linda Webb, both of Waymakers Division of Unchained Ministries; Carrie Heck, Director, Hoosier Initiative for Reentry (HIRE); and Jim Cotterill, President, 2nd Chance Indiana. Photo below (LtoR): Kimberly Smith, Job Counselor, 2nd Chance Indiana with Job Fair attendee.

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE:

EmployIndy Working With

2nd Chance Indiana!

Connie Harris, and Trace Yates of EmployIndy met with 2CI's Scott Whiting recently to update them on our van transportation program, which assists reentrants with rides to and from work. EmployIndy works to promote quality employment for underserved and under-represented residents, which includes those coming out of incarceration. Considering that the No.1 barrier to getting and keeping a good job is lack of affordable and reliable transportation, 2CI's vanpools are a key step in helping reentrants become successful after release. In the works is a 2CI virtual “Lunch and Learn” for interested employers as well as the EmployIndy staff. Our Thanks to Connie and Trace for all their good work at EmployIndy!

Pictured (LtoR): Connie Harris, EmployIndy Business Development Manager, and

Scott Whiting, 2nd Chance Indiana V.P. Not pictured is Trace Yates, EmployIndy Account Manager of Business Partnerships.

IT'S A PARTY!

Job Readiness Graduation!!

For Ladies Inside Marion Co. Jail

We cannot take pictures inside the Marion County Adult Detention Center, but if we could you'd be able to see the graduates of our Job Readiness Training classes, their certificates, their happiness and the light in their eyes.

These classes were led by 2nd Chance Indiana's Doug Evans who worked inside the Indiana prisons for more than 30 years. He is a patient and caring teacher, and he brought in two successful former inmates who encouraged and showed them the success they may have after release. As with any of our job readiness classes, we wish we could tell you more, but suffice it to say, we are blessed by these peoples' stories and will do all we can to support them with connections to any needed services and make sure they find a good job on which to build a foundation of success.

PHOTO: Top Left, Cupcakes! Lower Right: Certificates of Achievement for Completion of 2CI's Job Readiness Training Program (copies go to the court for the benefit of the recipients). This one is for one of our best students, Wannabetter Future. :)

INDIANA FAMILY & SOCIAL SERVICES:

FSSA Expands Access Of Services To 2ndChanceIN.com

Need food, housing, goods, transportation, health care, money, or legal help? It's all available at Indiana 211 and is now available under "Support Services" at 2ndChanceIN.com, all because the folks at FSSA want to make these services available in as many venues as possible to better help people in need.

Just go to the 2nd Chance Indiana site, and click on the big "SUPPORT SERVICES" button on the lower right. Enter your need in the "Search" area or choose a Category at the top left on the Support Services page, and you will get a list of organizations and facilities able to help almost any need. Indiana 211 is listed under the "I" (for Indiana) listings. Click on Indiana 211 for their list of service suppliers, and you can call or email 24 hours a day. This is just one more effort by the caring staff at FSSA, with whom we are so fortunate to work.

TERRELL SARVER:

2nd Chance Indiana's Job Counselor Team Growing!

We are happy to welcome Terrell Sarver as the newest member of our Job Counselor team at the Marion County Adult Detention Center. As an elder in his church and with a degree in ministry leadership, he is well prepared to help others at a time of transition.

Outside of his 2nd Chance Indiana duties, Terrell is busy with his commercial financing firm that specializes in lending money to small businesses and he and his wife have a new book coming soon entitled: TRANSFORMED: Powerful Stories Of 7 Men Changed By The Hand Of God!

He says, "I have an assignment to help men understand their purpose in life, and to know that their lives matter, no matter what mistakes they have made in the past.” Nicely said!

HOOKED:

Opioid Use Disorder Inside And Outside Indiana Jails & Prisons

In the last decade, Indiana has lost more than 4,000 Hoosiers to Opioids–a death rate eight times higher than the the death rate among Hoosiers who fought in Viet Nam. Meanwhile, a good percentage of opioid users are incarcerated. Nationally, 90% of jails and prisons do not treat opioid use, leaving people to go through a torturous forced withdrawal, which greatly increases the likelihood of death upon release if the person goes back to using drugs. In our state, however, there are two efforts in place: Recovery While Incarcerated, utilized in Indiana prisons, and Purposeful Incarceration, a program between Indiana Department of Correction, the Parole Board, and Indiana courts, that can modify a sentence after successful completion of addiction treatment. Know the facts about opioids and fentanyl in Indiana and what is being done in our prisons, Here!

WANT TO HELP REENTRANTS?

Pray For Them...

It Is So Simple

We recently got this email: "I am having a hard time staying afloat. I feel like I'm drowning...please help." We have responded! But like many situations, what people desperately need is to be lifted up in prayer. Can you help with your prayers?

It is so easy! Just go to 2ndChanceIN.com/Prayer-Requests. There you can submit a prayer, or scroll down and hit the green button to pray for one of those listed. Then hit the blue button, which will indicate another person has prayed for them. It is such a meaningful exercise, yet so easy to do from your home, or office anytime. Thank you! Prayer changes everything.

Another way to access the prayer chapel from 2ndChanceIN.com: Use the menu at the top of the page and click on Resources, and in the drop down click on Prayer Chapel. There is a page that talks about the Prayer Chapel with a green button at the bottom. Just click on it! Again, the shortcut is: 2ndChanceIN.com/Prayer-Requests. To volunteer to be a 2nd Chance Indiana Prayer Warrior, click HERE.