Reentry Team: Connecting Our People With Needed Resources

Prison to Employment Connections Employer Day at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center

Our Education Team member Sandra, Farm Staff members Kathryn and Nnej, and Reentry Coordinator Sol were invited to an event at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center in which they conducted mock job interviews and provided coaching and feedback in order to get them job ready when they come home. In addition, participants boost residents’ self-esteem and sense of worth.

This program focused on job readiness and boosting residents’ self-esteem and sense of worth. The residents completed a 14-week program covering:

• Interest inventories
• Resume writing
• Work values
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Cover letter writing
• Interview skills
• Handling rejection
• Discussing criminal history in interviews
• Job search strategies

The beauty of this program is that the residents are dedicated to transforming their lives and securing sustainable employment post-release. They voluntarily enrolled and committed to meeting rigorous requirements in order to participate. PJ staff from multiple departments are honored to be in solidarity with programs like this, that help incarcerated folks thrive. If you would like to support this program please contact:

Sumer Schulze
Email: sumer@prison2ec.org
ED, Prison to Employment Connection
CLICK HERE TO DONATE 

Connecting our People With Needed Resources Upon Release

I would like to thank Barbara Chavez, The Outside Fellow with the Inside/Outside Fellowship Program at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, where she works directly to support currently and formerly incarcerated individuals in their journeys toward freedom, personal empowerment, and successful
reintegration into our communities. Barbara created “Ella’s Closet” a clothing closet specifically intended to support formerly incarcerated women with essential clothing and resources upon release. The goal is to alleviate some of the burdens formerly incarcerated people face, enabling them to reintegrate with stability, confidence, and hope for their futures. We have been working together to connect men and women coming home with clothes and the support they need. Barbara has done an amazing job in allowing me to send people to “Ella’s Closet” and get clothes. Together we can build community together!

Learn more: The Ella Baker Center

Planting Justice Entrepreneurship Workshop With Dewayne Hendrix

We had the opportunity to have our Board Member Dewayne Hendrix come back and teach us the principles on how to start our own business. This was the first of 5 Sessions that we will be having with our staff and our formerly incarcerated community. This teaches us that no matter what our background is or what we have been through, if we have the determination we can also have our own business and be successful. Session 2 will be on January 24th. See you there!

Our Road Prison Project Tapping Workshop Facilitated by Shawn Rowland

Another workshop that we had this month was a Tapping Workshop. Our participants learned about Thought Field Therapy, a gentle evidence-based technique that uses specific tapping sequences on meridian points on the body to reduce stress, anxiety, trauma, and other emotional challenges. It works by calming the nervous system and restoring balance to the body’s energy system, allowing individuals to process and release distressing emotions. TFT is simple to learn and can be a powerful tool for self-care and emotional regulation.

We continue encouraging our staff and our Reentry Participants to always learn different ways to practice self-care while continuing their journey of healing. If you would like to support their work, visit them here. 

Reflecting on the Year

This year we were able to connect with more than 3,000 people currently incarcerated thanks to being able to go inside the prisons. Some of our participants were getting released, resentenced or had parole hearings. Some of the people that we were able to connect with resources were found suitable
for parole, released, are still facing court proceedings in order to get resentenced and released. However, many others were not so fortunate to be granted parole, but we are still working to connect them with resources and helping them prepare for their next hearing.

If you have any resources that you would like to share with us or connect our participants with, please contact our Reentry Coordinator Sol at reentry@plantingjustice.org. When we come together and provide resources to our people coming home we are contributing to ending recidivism and destigmatizing incarceration.