PASTOR POWER:
Can Faith Fortify Our Fight Against Violence?
Anthony Beverly (top right) of Stop the Violence Indianapolis introduced Pastor Michael Allen (top left), co-founder of Together Chicago, to a group in search of best practices to strengthen our fight against violent crime in Indianapolis. |
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In Together Chicago's focus areas over a nine month period there were 60% fewer homicides, 40% fewer shootings, using 20 faith leaders to participate in Custom Notifications with eight street outreach team members preventing and responding to violence. The group has “Faith-based Subcommittees", which meet on a monthly basis with community stakeholders, and pastors are trained to work with police who issue warnings during interventions.
In Indianapolis, the faith community is a missing element in our fight against street violence. There is power in the presence of a faith-filled person who can speak peace and love to a wounded soul. Maybe our pastors could make the difference here.
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UNITE INDY joins with IDOC & Others in BIG Job Fair
This event will connect anyone with a criminal record who is unemployed or under-employed with employer-partners of UNITE INDY and other organizer partners. Good paying jobs offered by understanding employers, willing to work around court-ordered requirements, are the most powerful answers to reducing recidivism. A good job most importantly reduces poverty, and improves the futures and health of children in our poorest neighborhoods.
More than 20 employers, willing to offer a second chance will be at Martin University on Friday, June 17th, between 9:00 am & 3:00 pm. We'll also have more than 20 resource providers offering addiction recovery, healthcare coverage, free legal assistance, haircuts and much, much more. For info and to register click here! For jobs online for those with a criminal record, go to our website, SecondChanceIndy.com. Other organizations partnering with UNITE INDY and Indiana Department of Correction to put on this event include Marion County Community Corrections, Hoosier Initiative for Re-entry, Marion Superior Court Probation Department, and Marion County Re-entry Coalition.
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Promoting Prison & Jail Ministries To a State-Wide Audience
Last week UNITE INDY co-founder, Nancy Cotterill spoke at the Indiana United Methodist Annual Conference for the Jail, Prison & Reform Committee of which she is a member.
Speaking at Indiana Wesleyan University she said, "Our task is to develop action in communities across the state to support reentrants through correspondence teams and individual mentorship, as we unite government, businesses, churches, and community groups to attack poverty by increasing the economic welfare of reentrants." UNITE INDY's job training, mentorship, transportation programs, and its jobs website, SecondChanceIndy.com all work within the community framework to bring wholeness to families who otherwise could continue in unemployment and poverty. |
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Job Preparation Training Begins in Shelby Co. Jail and The Bridge
Shelby County is one of the most aggressive collaborators in the Central Indiana nine-county area to help those returning from incarceration. UNITE INDY's Jobs for Life job preparation training is set to begin in the Shelby County Jail (pictured) and at The Bridge, which is an outreach and care ministry of Shelbyville Community Church. With county jails across Indiana housing inmates who are serving longer term sentences as a result of felony convictions, it is imperative that upon imminent release, they receive training that prepares them to get a good job that studies say can reduce recidivism down to an average of 5%. UNITE INDY has been blessed by the cooperation and energy that Shelby County's church, business, and community leaders have exhibited.
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A YEAR AND A HALF IN:
Reentry Van System is Working Wonders to Support Employment for Reentrants
Once you get a job, to keep it, one must be able to get to work everyday, but most reentrants don’t have a car, and busses don’t go everywhere. Reliable transportation is a must.
So, with the help of a key employer partner we began a year-long pilot program which resulted in 8 vans making 146 trips a week carrying 116 riders to and from work every day—and the impact is tremendously encouraging.
The goal is to cut recidivism to levels never seen before as lives are saved and costs of incarceration are cut drastically. We are working to exponentially expand this program, and believe it is an important part of reducing the cost of incarceration and putting a dent in poverty for our most vulnerable families. It won't happen overnight, but the benefit will grow year after year as it saves taxpayers untold amounts. Meanwhile, the people we are transporting have become engaged, responsible, and valuable employees who have been working toward a successful future and a life of which they can be proud.
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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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