Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The New Co-op Helping Ex-Inmates Find Work—and Recover

    Washington D.C. struggles with the highest incarceration rates in the nation that already imprisons more people than any other country in the world. But a few determined individuals, including ex-offender Juan Reid, are working to break the cycle by empowering former inmates to join their business cooperative, Tightshift, catered specifically to those reentering the system by providing job training and paid work, as well as critical emotional healing and support.

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  • The Viking club where men fight their demons

    As the family unit in Western society is increasingly fractured, many suffering from stress, anger, and trauma often must find to alternative ways to build community and find belonging. One unique example is the Viking Festival in Wolin, Poland. More than just an event, the coordinated battles and revival of craftsmanship have allowed many to channel aggression and frustration in a constructive manner, and even helped some to rebuild their lives.

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  • Former drug users work on the front lines of the opioid crisis in Rhode Island

    Anchor Recovery is a government-funded program that hires former opioid users to reach out to addicts. They’re called “recovery coaches.” The idea is to use their former experiences with addiction as a source of connection with opioid addicts. So far, the program has helped an estimated 400 people get treatment. “I have been in this room. I have been in your position. I know exactly how you feel at this moment.”

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  • Lancaster knows how to keep people out of jail, but it's expensive

    Officials around Pennsylvania who want to reduce recidivism are studying a re-entry program in Lancaster that gives former inmates intensive case management to help them return to society. That includes transitional housing, job interview clothing and workshops on things like personal finance and interviewing skills. It also addresses the small slips that often send someone back to jail by putting the fees many former prisoners owe on hold for six months and helping them tackle bureaucratic challenges that can seem daunting.

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  • How Ireland became a hub for female entrepreneurs

    Ireland has grown over 500 hundred small companies run by women owners and managers through a simple but effective peer mentoring scheme. Female entrepreneurs participate in monthly roundtable sessions led by some of Ireland’s most successful businesswomen. Last years’ participants had remarkable combined sales growth of 28% in six months. The idea is to expand women’s aspirations for their businesses, generate solidarity, and provide results-driven support from peers with proven success.

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  • In Texas, People With Mental Illness Find Work Helping Peers

    The concept of peer-to-peer support has been leveraged by organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous for decades; but for perhaps the first time, health care systems are leveraging this method to help treat patients with mental illness. Non-profit Via Hope provides training and certification for peer support specialists who go to work in health clinics and hospitals to provide support, counseling, and resources for others suffering from a wide range of mental illnesses. They are already proving as, if not more effective than traditional case managers at helping keep patients out of psychiatric hospitals.

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  • A Fairhill church is redemption central for ex-offenders

    A church in Philadelphia is adept at ministering to those coming out of incarceration and drug use because its two pastors come from that very same world. They hold members accountable, which could mean a required stint in rehab before folks can use the various services of the church like housing, food and help with employment. As a result the recidivism rate of members is about five percent, far lower that the state-wide rate.

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  • Victim families use their pain to help murderers change

    The Monterey County chapter of Parents of Murdered Children and a rehabilitative group inside the prison at Soledad, Life CYCLE, team up to hold meetings in which parents of murder victims communicate their hurt, and their children's stories, so that incarcerated men experience a new form of accountability. The dialogues, where those convicted of crimes may for the first time truly see a victim's perspective, also benefit the survivors by letting them try to produce something good from their terrible experiences. The program is credited with lowering recidivism rates substantially.

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  • Two kids, broke and on her own, mom finds Pathway of Hope for family

    For people like Jasmine Smith, a single mother of two who lost her job after her broken and unfixable car thwarted her commute, one's options to provide for themselves and their families are few and far between. However, through Pathway of Hope, a national Salvation Army initiative that’s supported thousands in finding housing and financial stability, Smith was given financial resources, housing assistance, emotional support, a sense of self-sufficiency, and the will to continue her education.

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  • Why Boston Is Paying Ex-Gang Members To Go To College

    Dorchester, the Boston neighborhood with the highest poverty levels, struggles to keep kids in school from engaging with gangs and crime. But College Bound Dorchester (CBD) is fast rewriting the solution to high drop out and recidivism rates, paying ex-offenders a weekly stipend to enroll in and complete a diploma program and proceed to (and through) college. With "core influencers" -- ex-gang members who have "left behind their troubled pasts" -- as role models in the community, CBD emulates similar programs in Chicago and Baltimore, and studies show the initiative is working.

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