Seven local organizations will be receiving “mini-grants” of $5,000 or more to help released prisoners get off on the right foot in New Haven.
City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga announced Wednesday that the city’s Prison Reentry Initiative has awarded seven “Reentry Mini-Grants” to New Haven organizations. The money comes from a two-year grant from the federal Department of Justice and will be used to expand services to people reentering New Haven after incarceration.
The goal of the Prison Reentry Initiative, which began in 2008, is to “develop a comprehensive reentry strategy” for people returning to New Haven after incarceration, said Amy Meek, the city’s prison reentry coordinator.
According to a release, Meek said focus groups of ex-offenders showed that services are most needed in six areas: education, employment, family support, housing, mental health and addiction, and peer mentoring.
Six organizations were chosen to receive $5,000 for programs that address one or more of the target areas. A seventh organization, the Mother Hicks Center, was selected to receive $8,650 in “start-up funding for a new center devoted to providing wrap-around services to women returning from incarceration,” according to the release.
The six organizations to receive $5,000 grants are Easter Seals Goodwill Industries, Emergency Shelter Management Services, Evergreen Family Oriented Tree, Giving Back Foundation, STRIVE-New Haven, and the Urban Resources Initiative.
Several organizations plan to use the money to increase employment opportunities. Emergency Management Services will launch monthly job fairs for ex-offenders living in emergency shelter. The Urban Resources Initiative (URI), which plants trees in New Haven, will expand a “green job skills training and transitional employment program for ex-offenders with substance abuse issues,” according to the release.
“This opportunity supports ex-offenders’ return to the community in a very positive way by providing employment and job training, while also furthering the goal of the Tree Haven 10K Campaign,” said URI Director Colleen Murphy-Dunning, according to the release.