"Keeping Families Together"
Donation protected
At the National Reentry Network, we go the extra mile to connect returning citizens with success. Now we seek your help in our campaign to purchase an 18-passenger van to keep families together, strengthen communities, and improve and expand our client services in the DC area.
The National Reentry Network connects recently incarcerated individuals with services and mentors to meet their needs and work toward positive outcomes. We seek to address barriers to reentry, promote restorative practices, and reduce recidivism. Returning citizens need many kinds of assistance and support in their efforts to resettle in their communities. We are here to bridge the divide for returning citizens making the transition from incarceration to freedom. This van will help us provide services to citizens as and before they return, and help them stay connected with their families.
At all the stages of reentry, returning citizens have transportation needs. That might be a ride home the day of release, a trip to secure documentation or medical care, or transportation for families to visit in the critical weeks before release.
In August 1997, Congress passed a law eliminating the local DC prison and shipping DC code violators to federal facilities across the United States. 20 years later, incarcerated individuals still face vast distances separating them from their families and communities. In a 2017 interview with American University Radio, returned DC citizen Nokomis Hunter discussed the impacts of this distance. “Not being able to see your family in some years can make you forget about life,” he said. “It can make you think your life is in prison, there’s no hope outside that wall.” DC residents have been sent as far as Victorville, California, yet finding a way to visit incarcerated family members is a problem even for folks with family in facilities nearer to the District. Many sentenced in DC are in custody in Winton, NC, 210 miles away. While within a day’s journey, it is not accessible via public transportation, just like many other prison facilities. This van will help facilitate visits to that facility and others scattered within driving distance, yet out of reach for many without support.
Imagine the stress and burden of trying to stay connected with an incarcerated family member housed well outside DC. The story illustrated in the 2018 documentary, The Sentence, is just one instance of a common theme. Families should be supported, not burdened in their attempts to maintain connected with their incarcerated loved ones.
The National Reentry Network envisions a criminal justice system that does not put such harmful distance between DC offenders and their home and families, yet we are also committed to addressing the needs of those currently experiencing incarceration. Family and community visitation can be a key factor in reducing recidivism and helping inmates return to their communities supported by the bonds of family, bonds that should be undergoing growth and repair during the challenges of incarceration.
This van will supplement our existing work to support returning citizens by helping loved ones visit incarcerated family members, helping newly released people to come home, and helping those in transition to navigate the system.
Be a part of the solution.
The National Reentry Network carries out the everyday work of strengthening communities and supporting reentering citizens during their transition home. We meet the needs of individuals where they are—employing proven strategies like mentorship and restorative circles and stepping up for the little things that have a big impact, like ensuring transportation to an agency that provides necessary documentation. Your contribution brings us closer to our goal to provide a continuum of care for returning citizens and their families.
To learn more, please visit our website: https://thenationalreentrynetwork.org
The National Reentry Network connects recently incarcerated individuals with services and mentors to meet their needs and work toward positive outcomes. We seek to address barriers to reentry, promote restorative practices, and reduce recidivism. Returning citizens need many kinds of assistance and support in their efforts to resettle in their communities. We are here to bridge the divide for returning citizens making the transition from incarceration to freedom. This van will help us provide services to citizens as and before they return, and help them stay connected with their families.
At all the stages of reentry, returning citizens have transportation needs. That might be a ride home the day of release, a trip to secure documentation or medical care, or transportation for families to visit in the critical weeks before release.
In August 1997, Congress passed a law eliminating the local DC prison and shipping DC code violators to federal facilities across the United States. 20 years later, incarcerated individuals still face vast distances separating them from their families and communities. In a 2017 interview with American University Radio, returned DC citizen Nokomis Hunter discussed the impacts of this distance. “Not being able to see your family in some years can make you forget about life,” he said. “It can make you think your life is in prison, there’s no hope outside that wall.” DC residents have been sent as far as Victorville, California, yet finding a way to visit incarcerated family members is a problem even for folks with family in facilities nearer to the District. Many sentenced in DC are in custody in Winton, NC, 210 miles away. While within a day’s journey, it is not accessible via public transportation, just like many other prison facilities. This van will help facilitate visits to that facility and others scattered within driving distance, yet out of reach for many without support.
Imagine the stress and burden of trying to stay connected with an incarcerated family member housed well outside DC. The story illustrated in the 2018 documentary, The Sentence, is just one instance of a common theme. Families should be supported, not burdened in their attempts to maintain connected with their incarcerated loved ones.
The National Reentry Network envisions a criminal justice system that does not put such harmful distance between DC offenders and their home and families, yet we are also committed to addressing the needs of those currently experiencing incarceration. Family and community visitation can be a key factor in reducing recidivism and helping inmates return to their communities supported by the bonds of family, bonds that should be undergoing growth and repair during the challenges of incarceration.
This van will supplement our existing work to support returning citizens by helping loved ones visit incarcerated family members, helping newly released people to come home, and helping those in transition to navigate the system.
Be a part of the solution.
The National Reentry Network carries out the everyday work of strengthening communities and supporting reentering citizens during their transition home. We meet the needs of individuals where they are—employing proven strategies like mentorship and restorative circles and stepping up for the little things that have a big impact, like ensuring transportation to an agency that provides necessary documentation. Your contribution brings us closer to our goal to provide a continuum of care for returning citizens and their families.
To learn more, please visit our website: https://thenationalreentrynetwork.org
Organizer
Courtney Stewart
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC
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