In June 2020, the New Kensington Community Development Corporation asked how it could become a Pardon Hub, and in July, we trained their staff. They quickly realized how they could most effectively get the word out to their community, and they invited us back to train all of their Community Health Workers.

So it was that on January 21, 2021, NKCDC’s CHWs hosted Change Can Happen: Reentry and Beyond, a virtual conversation about life after incarceration. It included personal stories from formerly incarcerated people and information they’d learned from us. Far, far surpassing all prior PLSE records, over 900 people were reached via Facebook and YouTube, most of them in communities in North Philadelphia with high incarceration rates.

NKCDC’s goal is to help individuals to know where and how to get help with cleaning up their criminal records. Its “RE-Entry Rally” was the perfect idea, combining that information with training, employment, mental health, and housing assistance for individuals struggling with the process of re-entering the community. KUDOS to NKCDC and its CHWs! You rock! 

Last July, the Pennsylvania IOLTA Board let us know about a new “funding opportunity” from the American Bar Endowment (ABE). The ABE offers insurance plans to American Bar Association members, and uses the dividends generated by its plans to fund “programs that advance the American justice system and the rule of law.” We imagined, we applied ... and we won! We received one of just 15 grants, selected from 150 proposals nationwide! The ABE is funding four “Pardon Fellows” (people with criminal records) to outreach to other individuals and communities impacted by criminal records in four rural counties – Washington, McLean, Centre, and Lancaster – where PLSE is helping to create county-wide Pardon Projects.

How the ABE describes our work is worth reading -- it’s in the postscript at the end of this newsletter. Thank you, American Bar Endowment, for the recognition, the honor, and the funding! And be sure watch this space for developments...

Over the past few years, PLSE has grown, big time. We’ve gotten so big, in fact, that we outgrew our space at the Friends Center. We are now happily relocated to the Newman Center, 111 South 38th Street (19104), on the campus of the Church of Saint Agatha – Saint James, able to work very closely with the Newman Clubs of both Penn and Drexel Universities as well as the Church community.

In bidding us farewell, Chris Mohr, the Friends Center ED, wrote: “It has been great to see PLSE grow from a one-person organization to what it is today. Best wishes for the important work you do.” Thank you, Chris, and all at the Center who supported and encouraged us every step along the way!

"The collateral consequences of criminal records are devastating and directly contribute to intergenerational poverty. The ABA has confirmed that, nationwide, a past conviction history raises well over 40,000 barriers to employment, education, housing, loan borrowing, professional licensing, voting among numerous other post-punishment punishments. Pennsylvania has long had one of the highest incarceration rates in the county, but since 2019, it has been leading the country in pardon reform, reducing the time it takes, eliminating costs, and changing the perception of a pardon as a remedy only available to those who are rich, white and connected. With the assistance of an ABE Opportunity Grant, Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity will begin to create a network of “pardon fellows” with lived criminal-justice system experience to reach out to, educate and coach people in rural areas as they seek the second chance that only a pardon can provide. With these efforts, pardons can begin to repair the legacy of mass incarceration, creating a pathway to better jobs, housing, education, and credit, thus improving the lives of individuals, families, and communities."