UNBELIEVABLE:
Second Chance Indy Job Fair Surpasses All Expectations
If anyone wonders if justice-involved folks want to work and change their lives for the better, they can wonder no more. Last month we wrote that "we expect 500 or more" would come to the April job fair. We were a little off. In fact, we stopped counting at 700. The excitement was felt by everyone there. Attendance has ballooned. At our 2021 Job Fair we attracted 62 people. In 2022, we had 400, and this year, it was nearly twice that many. Free phones, tablets, and bus passes were available, but folks showed up for the jobs. (Above) UNITE INDY team, L to R, Scott Whiting, Jim Cotterill, Sherry Jackson, Molly Oliver, Doug Evans and Lamon Rush.
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WE GET LETTERS...
Inmate from Pennsylvania Needs Our Help
Oddly enough, we got a letter from an inmate in Pennsylvania. He writes, “I have been incarcerated for 17 years and I’m preparing for parole.” He says he has to present a plan to the parole board and he’s worried about that.
OK...well, we don’t get many letters from Pennsylvania, but when Indiana CURE, a ministry that advocates for those in prison, wrote about UNITE INDY’s efforts to train, mentor, and connect reentrants with jobs, James read about us and decided to write. He’s coming back to Indiana to live with his parents when he is released. So our job was pretty clear: He needed help with a plan, a mentor, and a job. In that order. Because he’ll be living in Bloomington with his mom and dad, we’ve reached out to a mentor we work with there and have just about got James all set up.
After 17 long years he may be paroled in August and we are believing he will be able to return to his family, and with his mentor’s help, his parent’s guidance, a good job, and some internal conviction, he’ll make a success of his future life. We might all want to say a prayer for James G!
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MENTORS!
Indy Archdiocese’s John Cord Offers Help
Deacon John Cord, who is the Coordinator of the Office of Corrections Ministries for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, met with UNITE INDY folks to explore opportunities to mentor inmates, both pre-release and post-release, as reentrants. If a mentor prefers to work with a faith-based organization, one of the options can now be the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis through their Corrections Ministry. This ministry provides spiritual reading for inmates, performs masses in prison facilities, supports inmates through prayer, transports families for visits, and most importantly, provides mentors to reentrants when needed. For more on Deacon Cord’s ministry, click Here! PHOTO: L to R, UI’s Scott Whiting, Deacon John Cord of the Office of Corrections Ministries Archdiocese of Indianapolis, UI’s Doug Evans and Jim Cotterill.
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CHURCHES UNITE:
The iNDY Network Partners With UNITE INDY
The idea of coming together to fight societal ills grows ever stronger. UNITE INDY's new partner, The iNDY Network, and its executive director, Chad Temple, focus on uniting businesses, churches, and community members in an effort to improve at-risk neighborhoods all around Indianapolis. Last week the organization held a conference at Pastor Tim McNamee's Blue Tassel Farm, south of Greensburg, IN, where the staff ministers to to at-risk kids from urban settings.
Statistics say a crime is committed in Indianapolis every 4 minutes, 20 percent of its residents live in a food desert, and the likelihood of a person becoming a victim of a violent crime is roughly one in 105. The iNDY Network is committed to improving our neighborhoods, and UNITE INDY is excited to work with them to supply one-on-one mentors for our job training and reentry programs. Now that's helping in a big way! Check out iNDY Network Here! Blue Tassel Farm Here!
PHOTO: L to R, UI's Scott Whiting, Pastor Tim McNamee of Blue Tassel Farm, Indy Network's Chad Temple.
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ACCURATE OR JUST INADEQUATE?
The Recidivism Yardstick
Half a million people are released from state and federal prisons every year, and that doesn’t count the 3000+ from county jails. But because of recidivism reports, we all know how many are re-incarcerated, right? No, we do not. Here’s the problem: It all depends on information that is difficult to access due to an inability to follow those who are released. If a man is released after time in a facility in Marion County, and is re-incarcerated a year later in Clark County, there is no way to dependably attach that re-conviction to that person. It is somewhere in his criminal file, but states and municipalities can only find numbers, and numbers do not tell us if he became a recidivist, or not. Municipalities and states are basically counting people who were released in their town or state and then were re-incarcerated in their town or state. Trouble is: People move around and that keeps the recidivism numbers illogically low. But, research studies are pretty accurate because they are actually doing the work to follow individual reentrants to get real recidivism numbers. So here’s the thing: We rely on research study findings and the two things on which they all agree: Mentors make all the difference, and a job found soon after release can massively drive down recidivism. BINGO! Read Nancy’s blog post Here!
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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. 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
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Support of Ministries and Charities:
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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