JOBS, JOBS, JOBS:
Boone County Moves to Help Reentrants
UNITE INDY is so happy to be working with Boone County in its effort to provide jobs for reentrants. Molly Whitehead, executive director of the Boone County Economic Development Corporation, organized a powerful first meeting of the new Boone County Second Chance Employment Coalition. On board were representatives from UNITE INDY, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Community Corrections, Probation, and several Boone County employers who offer employment to those with criminal backgrounds.
We discussed UNITE INDY’s role providing mentors for each inmate who participates in our job preparation training in the new Marion County Jail and the Shelby County Jail and shared our experience providing transportation for reentrants to and from the workplace. The coordination between players in Boone County is nothing short of amazing. Our thanks to Molly, good things to come!
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Making a Deal With The Devil?
Rather than rid our state of onerous Pay Day lenders which prey upon our working poor, our legislature has produced a new, more threatening product to be wielded against those who are desperate for money.
Indiana Senate Bill (SB) 352, would legalize installment loans for those bigger purchases that don't fall into the parameters for Pay Day loans. If passed, unsuspecting clients will be making a deal with the Devil with sky-high interest rates that are specifically exempted from the 72 percent criminal loansharking limit, and could reach over 300 percent. Touted as a great benefit for our working poor, it will be sold to those who might not understand finance, or are simply desperate.
Stop this now. We need an overall 36 percent interest rate cap (that includes fees!) Please find and contact your Indiana Representative here and tell them to vote NO. Read Nancy's blog post here, and sign your name to this letter now. Together we can stop this financial overreach.
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UNITE INDY Helping to Make Digital Job Training Happen
When UNITE INDY's Jim Cotterill approached Indiana Wesleyan's professors of Criminal Justice for help they were more than intrigued. The idea was to reimagine the Jobs for Life work-book curriculum into a contemporary digital teaching platform--one that might more easily be used in prisons. For Indiana Wesleyan University, it was an opportunity to serve the least among us as Jesus commanded. For Jobs for Life, it provides a new way to use their amazing curriculum. This effort will not only streamline training, but will open opportunities for many more incarcerated individuals to be trained, cutting recidivism, as they become capable members of a proud workforce. |
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SHARING IS CARING:
UNITE INDY Visits New
Re-Entry Services Room!
Director of Reentry, Winta Gebremichael (Center) brought in the UNITE INDY team to see the Re-Entry Services Room at the new Marion County Jail that will be shared between UNITE INDY staffers and the city’s reentry team. This room is one part of the $560 million Indianapolis - Marion County Community Justice Campus where we can better reach those reentering society. It is a very special opportunity for our staffers to share operational responsibilities with the city’s reentry pros! |
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Around the Globe: Jobs for Life leaders Meet to Share Best Practices
Always sharpening and promoting best practices, Jobs for Life leaders recently Zoomed together with UNITE INDY to give updates and input on the JfL program that has been training job seekers around the world for decades. Soon, UNITE INDY will be teaching the JfL course in the new Marion County Jail. Featured in the photo is Allan Carrington, from Adelaide, Australia who is working there with churches to begin offering JfL courses. He started off his introduction by saying what we usually say about Australians, “I love the way you guys talk!” |
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Could You Be A Champion?
If you’re looking for an opportunity to serve as a mentor, where you can truly make a difference, please join us. We are currently staffing to work with men in the new Marion County Jail and the Shelby County Jail who desperately need the friendship of other men in their lives. If you could be an encourager or good listener, you might find an authentic friendship as you serve as a role model. For more information or to volunteer see: Marion County Jail or Shelby County Jail. Perhaps one of these is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for! Training will begin in March, so don’t delay.
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Indy Reentry Navigator: Bringing
Power To The People
As a reentrant, coming out of long-term incarceration, the contacts you need to handle the myriad of issues you face are your keys to successful reentry.
UNITE INDY's Reentry Navigator is being developed to provide just that: Quick connections to the people one needs for successful reentry, from a parole officer, to a drug treatment center, someone to help get a needed driver's license, or assistance with housing, finances, or just about anything a reentrant will need. Coming soon on your phone. BAM!
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Why Support UNITE INDY?
Our major focus is to assist the 12,000 inmates returning to Central Indiana after long-term jail sentences. UNITE INDY provides mentored job training inside the jail, and a website for those with a criminal record, SecondChanceIndy.com, filled with job openings offered by our Second Chance employer partners.
These jobs are powerful weapons with which to fight poverty in our neighborhoods.
How You Can Support Jobs for Justice- Involved Individuals
3. Become a Member - Your tax deductible gift will buy either 5 Student Workbooks for a class or 10 meals for students, their mentors, and instructors to gather around a table before each class, sharing food, transforming the moment into something more unique by creating a sense of community, which strengthens the relationship building process.
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Support of Ministries and Charities:
Since 2017 UNITE INDY has provided a free web-based system at UNITEINDY.org that connects churches, ministries, and other charities to share their volunteer needs or needed items. UNITE INDY also provides the manpower necessary to assist smaller organizations—that have no one to upload needed items—the help they require to access this service. Through this portal, UNITE INDY has brought hundreds of volunteers and thousands of dollars worth of needed goods into the hands of those who assist the poor.
Serving the Servants:
UNITE INDY comes behind urban pastors and ministry leaders by addressing personal and professional needs with free services for those who work tirelessly in their neighborhoods to care for the needy and bereft.
Remember, almost 1 out of every 3 children in Indianapolis lives below the poverty level, yet even in the aftermath of the COVID shut down, as our economy comes back to life and employment is returning, all this good news stops at the lines surrounding many of our inner city neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods of Marion County unemployment is now 21%, and poverty remains the overwhelming divider of people.
Please donate to UNITE INDY now. There are a number of choices that are all secure and safe. By sending your fully tax deductible gift* now we can have a greater impact meeting needs in our community in 2021.
Many, many thanks!
*UNITE INDY, Inc. is approved under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3) as a Public Charity, donors can deduct contributions they make under IRC Section 170.
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Corporate Partners
A big Thank YOU to our Corporate Partners for their unwavering support which makes it possible for us to provide our services at no charge to job applicants and employers!
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