ISU Police Facility Aimed at Victim Comfort

Lenore Sobota

Lee News Service

A stark, windowless room with bare walls and hard chairs might be an effective place for police to interview crime suspects, but it's not necessarily the best setting for talking to crime victims.

So when the Illinois State University Police Department was doing a significant remodeling of one part of its offices, Chief Aaron Woodruff decided to add a more comfortable room for those victim interviews.

“It's not a new concept. Other departments have done this,” Woodruff said. “It's been one of my wish list items.”

Although the room can be used for interviewing anyone making a police report, it is particularly intended to put victims of sexual assault and domestic violence at ease, Woodruff said.

“They're both the most severe form of trauma,” he said.

Gail Trimpe-Morrow, coordinator of sexual assault prevention and survivor services at ISU, said the new room is a huge improvement and provides “a space that feels safe and comfortable.”

She said she hopes it will help encourage more victims to come forward and report crimes.

The room formerly used was “pretty sparse” and made victims “feel like they were being interrogated,” Woodruff said.

The new, 12-by-7-foot room is carpeted and has a small couch, a few pillows, two chairs and an end table with a lamp.

One wall is decorated with a simple painting of tree silhouettes and red cardinals. Another wall has a “word cloud” with phrases such as “We believe you” and “We care” along with individual words such as "courage," "understanding" and "support."

“I think the signage is critically important. … The sign sets a supportive tone,” said Trimpe-Morrow.

Woodruff came up with the list of words and basic concept. ISU Printing Services took care of creating the graphics.

Martin's Home Furniture of Bloomington donated furniture for the room.

Interviewing victims “has come a long way,” said Woodruff. “We're more trauma-informed.”

Trimpe-Morrow said being “trauma-informed” means recognizing that trauma victims present themselves in different ways and their recall is different from others.

“The interviewer needs to take things slowly and be more supportive,” she said.

Woodruff said victims need to know “we're going to take them seriously,” and that's an important goal of the new room.

“It lets our campus community know that we do care and we are supportive of victims and survivors of sexual assault,” Woodruff said.

Another advantage of the new room is its location on the opposite side of the part of the department used for interviewing suspects, which makes it less likely that the victim and suspect will cross paths while at the police department,” he said.

Laurie: No Tolerance for Zero Tolerance

By Laurie Bergner

WJBC Forum

It’s a rare event when laws are passed to soften instead of increase punishments, but I am happy to report a new law that requires schools to limit long-term suspensions and expulsions, as well as eliminating the use of zero-tolerance policies used to severely punish students for certain offenses. Chicago Democrat Senator Kimberly Lightford, who sponsored the legislation, said “So it becomes a school system that says, ‘what can we do to keep this student in an academic setting?’” The law requires schools to look to other options, such as counseling or involving them in after-school programs, before suspensions longer than 3 days. In addition, for longer suspensions, schools will be required to give students support services while they’re away and allow them to make up work they missed.

Zero tolerance policies grew out of the Gun-Free School Act of 1994 that followed the horrendous Columbine shootings. This act required states receiving federal funds to mandate that local school districts expel students who bring a weapon to school for a minimum of one year. States rushed to pass laws to meet the requirements, which soon were followed by schools all over the country. Zero tolerance rules mandate predetermined punishments for weapons, drugs and alcohol without regard for when the behavior or possession was done in ignorance, by accident, or under extenuating circumstances. It does not take into account of the seriousness of the behavior or the student’s history. These policies have been implemented too broadly and too often for minor incidents, such as giving an advil to a friend, or having a small pocket knives.

Contrary to popular belief, research has found that zero tolerance policies are not effective and often have unintended negative consequences. A disproportionate number of the students who are suspended are black or Hispanic, as well as students with disabilities. African American students are 4 times as likely to be suspended than white students for the same violation; students with ADHD are 3 ½ to 7 times more likely to be expelled. And following suspensions, students experience depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and academic failure. And school dropouts increase.

One of the school rules that I find most unfair is the one that suspends both students involved in a fight, regardless of who started it. Ask police how they deal with a bar fight: do they jail everyone? Of course not. They make every attempt to find out who started it and charge that individual, rather than the one who was defending himself or herself. So who should a school fight be any different? How is it justice to consider the defender to be as culpable as the offender? Yet that is exactly what schools have done in their zero tolerance rules.

So I welcome this new law. I am aware it is yet another unfunded mandate for schools, but nonetheless, it is an essential change from a punitive to a prevention and correction model, one that will have crucial positive effects.

Laurie Bergner is a clinical psychologist in private practice, working with individual adults, families and couples. She also works with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters, helping organize candidates forums, educational programs, and many issues in the field of law and justice. She has received many recognitions in both fields, including YWCA’s Women of Distinction in the Professions, Leaguer of the Year, LWV Special Project Awards, and the LWV of Illinois’s prestigious Carrie Chapman Catt award. Laurie has a wonderful husband and two grown children – also wonderful. She loves biking in the countryside, reading, and traveling.

Gays Against Gun Violence BN Opens Dialogue on Community Safety

The epidemic of nationwide violence, including but not limited to last month's Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando, has mobilized Gays Against Gun Violence in Bloomington-Normal, which meets initially at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday) at The Bistro, 316 North Main Street, Bloomington.

The event is described as an "inaugural meet-up to brainstorm about how we can help make our community safer for one and all."

"Whether you are gay because you are LGBT or you are gay because you are part of the rainbow of love that we all share, you are most welcome," event sponsors stated. "We will begin by honoring the victims of gun violence at Pulse in Orlando and also the alarming number of victims of gun violence here in Bloomington-Normal."

As a member of Central Illinois' Prairie Pride Coalition, an LGBT advocacy group, Gary Gletty cites PPC's mission "to bring awareness and to reach out to people in our community who could use some help in dealing with issues." PPC was one of several local groups and agencies that appeared June 28 for Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal's 20th anniversary on the Old Courthouse square.

Gletty was gratified by the nearly 325-person turnout at the recent downtown Bloomington candlelight vigil for the Orlando nightclub shooting victims, and believes the LGBT community especially of late has "enjoyed quite a bit of support." Leaders of the local faith community participated in the vigil to demonstrate their support.

In mid-June, The Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. LGBT-rights organization, called for several measures to curb gun violence in the aftermath of the Florida attack that killed 49 Pulse patrons.

The HRC endorsed steps to limit access to assault-style rifles, expand background checks, and limit access to firearms for suspected terrorists and people with a history of domestic abuse.

A resolution on the gun measures was approved Thursday evening at a special meeting of the HRC's board of directors. The organization said it was the first time in its 36-year history that it had called such a meeting to address a policy matter that extended far beyond the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

The HRC's president, Chad Griffin, blamed the massacre on "a toxic combination of two things: a deranged, unstable individual who had been conditioned to hate (LGBT) people, and easy access to military-style guns."

LGBT Unitarian Member Urges Church to Preach 'Love They Neighbor.'

Lin Hinds was horrified in the wake of last weekend’s Orlando nightclub massacre to read the comments of a California Baptist minister who celebrated the shooter eliminating “Sodomites.”  “Where does that man even think he’s representing God or even has a connection to God?” Hinds, a member of Bloomington’s LGBT community, demands.

The Orlando shootings, which left 50 dead and more wounded, has raised questions about gun violence, gender bigotry in America, and the stance of religious doctrine and practice toward LGBT individuals. Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal, McLean County YWCA, and Prairie Pride Coalition will sponsor a June 27 LGBT Spirituality Forum -- a discussion with local religious leaders about finding safe places for LGBTQ people to worship -- at 7 p.m. in the Heartland Bank Community Room at 200 West College Ave. in Normal.

For the lesbian, mother, and member of the LGBT-friendly Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal who serves as office manager with Moses Montefiore Congregation Jewish synagogue, the issue breaks down to basic spiritual principles.

“It’s simple,” she maintained. “Love your neighbor. Don’t peek into their bedroom window; it shouldn’t matter. People are people. As a gay mother of a son, I raised my son to believe that people are people, you love people, and it doesn’t matter who they love.

“We need to get back to basics. A person’s character isn’t based on who the love or who they decide to spend their life with. It’s built on what they do and how they act.”

A native of Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Hinds moved to the Twin Cities in 1993, when LGBT residents still frequently felt pressured not to reveal their gender identity for fear or personal or even professional reprisal. She’d grown up essentially “unchurched” until high school, when she became involved with a local Lutheran church “because my best friend was Lutheran,” but Hinds’ parents taught her the Ten Commandments and other Judeo-Christian principles.

The Unitarian church traditionally has been one of the more inclusive Protestant denominations, and indeed, the overarching Unitarian Universalist Association has designated individual “Welcoming Congregation” churches. The church emphasizes “free thinking,” the concept of “salvation for all,” and a membership that includes Christian Unitarians Universalists as well as religious humanists, secular humanists, theists, Buddhists, “pagans,” and others.

In the case of Hinds’ Bloomington Church, the addition of rainbow flags signals that it has “done work to be specifically welcoming to LGBT people.”

“It has taken us four years to get that designation,” she nonetheless stressed. “Unitarian Universalists tend to come from different faith traditions, a lot of times, so your older members from about 20 years ago came from a time where they either didn’t understand or weren’t welcoming, so it took some time. We did it, but it took some time. I equate that today, unfortunately, to some of the racial issues that exists.

“I went to a very white school (in the Chicago suburbs), and I went to that school for all 12 years – never had a black kid in a class, only had one Jewish kid in town. It was SO stereotypical middle-class, and my father was a truck driver. I wasn’t raised in a racist house, but I certainly had friends who were. My father believed a jerk was a jerk – didn’t matter what color he was. To the point where, when I was a freshman in college, my folks actually fostered two black twins for a few months. It was amazing the backlash they got.”

As Hinds examines LGBT issues in modern society, she also continues her faith journey. Her employment with Moses Montefiore, a progressive Reform Jewish temple that also welcomes LGBT members and guests, “certainly has strengthened my own spirituality, my own connections.”

“I’m connected to God every day, in one way or another,” Hinds noted.

Local Muslim, Jewish Leaders Decry Orlando Violence

Twin Cities Muslim and Jewish leaders joined in condemning last weekend’s mass murders at an Orlando night club frequented by LGBT individuals and cautioned against blaming the Islamic religion for the actions of a few.

In a letter to the Prairie Pride Coalition, the Islamic Center of Bloomington-Normal this week repudiated the Orlando shootings:

“The entire Muslim community of Bloomington-Normal, including Masjid Ibrahim and Islamic Center of Bloomington-Normal, condemns the gruesome and barbaric attack in Orlando and we offer our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all those killed or injured,” it stated. “We join our fellow Americans in repudiating anyone or any group that would claim to justify or excuse such an appalling act of violence and terror.”

Meanwhile, talking with WGLT Radio, the Islamic Center’s Sheheryar Muftee maintained attacks like the mass shooting at the Pulse night club might be less likely to happen here. Muftee held local Muslims are a tight-knit community that rejects violence, and “all of us know each other pretty well.”

“If people are not attending the mosque, we check on them,” he related. “We have contacts with the joint terrorism task force of the FBI and local law enforcement, so I think it's very, very unlikely something like this could happen, but no one can definitely say."

Muftee said leaders at Bloomington-Normal's three mosques often preach against the use of violence. "The three mosques are very proactive in preaching against hate of any kind, preaching against strong views on religion. We have lots of programs for kids and youth and we try to show them positive things in their religion and keep them away from minority hate groups that are out there," he said.

Muftee said ISIS and other terrorist groups, as well as the San Bernardino and Orlando attackers, "call themselves Muslim but they are not practicing Muslims. They are taking the name of Islam and dragging it through the mud."

He called the phrase "radical Islamic terrorist" an unfair characterization ofthe vast majority of the world's 1.1 billion Muslims.

Muftee believes the Orlando attack was a hate crime directed at gays rather than a politically motivated act of terror. He said he also believes shooter Omar Mateen, who was killed by police, suffered from severe mental illness that was influenced by jihadist propaganda.

He said homosexuals would be welcome to join Muslims in prayer at the Islamic Center.

Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe of Bloomington’s Moses Montefiore Congregation admonished against targeting the Muslim community as “scapegoats” for the Orlando shootings or other acts committed by extremists.   

“There are more good Jews and more good Muslims and good Christians that we do know about,” Dubowe argued. “We tend to be drawn to those individuals who claim that they represent us. We are all God’s children, and I was pleased to see what the Muslim community wrote – it was a very powerful statement, and it really said a lot about the Bloomington-Normal community.”

Dubowe participated in a December vigil with local Christian and Islamic leaders in response to concerns about growing Islamophobia. Rather than pointing cultural fingers, she believes Americans should focus after tragedies such as the Pulse killings on “what we should do,” whether it’s re-examining enforcement of gun regulations, fostering mental health resources, or generating dialogue on broader social attitudes.

As Dubowe along with spiritual leaders nationwide mourn the Orlando victims, emphasized that her temple embraces the LGBT communities and that while some within those communities may feel pressure to suppress their gender identity at church,  “our ‘closets’ are WIDE open.” Because of the Holocaust, earlier Russian pogroms against the Jews, and other assaults on her own community, Dubowe sees strong Jewish empathy with communities that also have been “pushed down.”

Moses Montefiore is a Reform Jewish congregation, “the most liberal of the whole Jewish community,” Dubowe notes. She stresses the need for the church to reach out to all those “on the fringes of society,” including LGBT individuals and those with disabilities, and the temple is working to connect with African-American members of the Jewish community.

“We have been very supportive in recognizing the LGBT members of our community,” the rabbi stressed. “We recognize that each one of us is a child of God – no one less than others. We’ve always wanted to create a safer space for them – not only in God’s eyes, but in our eyes. Everyone has the right to celebrate their life, their love, and who they are. Moses Montefiore Congregation welcomes all.”

Recently, the Reform National Federation Temple Youth movement issued what Dubowe deemed a “very powerful statement” recognizing that transgendered and other members of the LGBT community merit full rights and respect, and the federation is offering transgender training to help members better serve that community.

Study: Income Security Key for Formerly Incarcerated Women

Through a sociology class project, Illinois State University Stevenson Center for Community and Economic Development graduate students are assisting previously incarcerated women in Bloomington-Normal in regaining their independence and attaining a consistent income.

Through a partnership with Labyrinth Outreach Services, organized by Illinois State Professor Joan Brehm and supported by a Pohlmann Family Development grant, students have been researching issues relating to previously incarcerated women in the community. Caroline Moe, a Peace Corps Master’s International student, maintains that the project is a step in the right direction for this underserved portion of the community.

“Unfortunately, there is significant income inequality and lack of opportunity for those living below the poverty line,” Moe said. “In McLean County, 14.2 percent of the population live below this line, including many of the women Labyrinth serves. This partnership provides an opportunity for us to gain real-world experience in community development as well as feeling like we are actually accomplishing something.”

The 18 students formed two groups: a microbusiness research team and an employment hiring practices team. Despite their grueling school schedules, both teams worked hard to bring hope for these struggling women.

“This project has been a great insight into the collaboration involved in executing community development projects,” said Peace Corps Master’s International student Jessie Linder. “We’ve gotten to network and collaborate with members in many different sectors of the community and gotten to see firsthand how exciting a project can be when you get community members involved. I’ve found that it isn’t nearly as important to have the answer, as it is to figure out what the community’s answer is.”

Some students, like Peace Corps Fellow Nick Canfield, have never experienced formal community development research. Thanks to this all-encompassing project, students like Canfield have been able to broaden their knowledge base in order to serve others.

“Although I had done community development programs during my Peace Corps experience in Pohnpei, Micronesia, I had not worked integrally with a large group toward presenting important and meaningful research to organizations,” Canfield said. “This project is directly geared towards creating methods to answer big questions which have real-world implications, and it has greatly improved my knowledge of research methods, project implementation, and community development.”

The students have been seeking donations to raise $5,000 so that Labyrinth can launch a social enterprise, the Clean Slate Project. The goal of the Clean Slate Project is to empower the women to make positive changes in their lives while gaining valuable professional skills in preparation for transitioning into the workforce. Individuals interested in making a donation should contact Linder.

Linder, Moe, and Applied Community and Economic Development Fellow Mel Johnston-Gross are project coordinators for this outreach effort. “To begin this portion of the project, we had to look at the starting group and the feasibility of this actually working,” Moe said. “This has proven to be very difficult, but we know it will be worth it in the end. Sometimes, it really is the little things like finishing a request for donation letter that really makes us feel good about our work, even when we are feeling overwhelmed.”

The students presented their research findings to Labyrinth December 8 at a public forum.

“I hope the findings will help them to better assist formerly incarcerated women to successfully re-enter society,” Canfield said.

According to the study, incarcerated women tend to be involved in non-violent crimes, have a
history of abuse and/or drug use, and tend to be of a lower socio-economic status. The crimes
women get arrested for most often correspond to their lower social and economic status.

"The racial divisions are also stark," the analysis stated. "One study reported that black women are over seven times more likely to be incarcerated than white women. On average, women earn lower wages and are less likely to be employed.

The study focused on three key case studies that show how a social enterprise model might work and be successful. The three case studies students chose were the Women’s Denver Bean Project, Thistle Farms, and the Delancey Street Foundation.  All three organizations are applicable to Bloomington's Labyrinth because they focus on similar populations and use a social enterprise model.

"Chronic unemployment may be explained in part by a lack of educational attainment which
keeps them from being competitive for living-wage jobs. One study found that less than half of
the incarcerated women in the study had completed high school. The implication for women reentering the community is a return to the same social circumstances
which influenced their original criminogenic behavior."

Twin Citians Offer Prayers, Messages, $1,400 in Donations for Charleston's Victims

More than 250 Twin Citians -- black, white, members of a variety of local churches -- joined Wednesday night at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church for a powerful prayer vigil and candle-lighting for the nine victims of last week's Charleston church shootings.

Beyond individual prayers for the victims and their families, their community, and the Twin Cities, area residents at the event raised more than $1,400 to be donated to the families of the victims of 21-year-old shooter Dylann Roof.

"Hate was defeated by love tonight," concluded Willie Holton Halbert, a leader with vigil host Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal and vigil leader. "The Vision came alive! Just look at the rainbow of hope -- equality is possible!

"I had to share as I reflected and (Halbert's husband) Charles showed me the rainbow that stood over the church as we began the  prayer vigil. Let's keep the momentum going as people are wanting to be engage."

Mt. Pisgah Pastor Frank L. McSwain delivered the evening's central message (listen to audio below), arguing the need for community wide unity and understanding to ensure mankind's survival "as a race."

He called for examination of the hatred, attitudes, and environment that led Roof to murder the Charleston parishioners after spending an hour with them in Bible study, while the minister emphasized the ongoing human and societal pain caused by overt, institutional, or even casual bigotry and bullying.

"You don't have to shoot somebody to kill them," McSwain said, urging the group to "go beyond the limitations of your own humanity" and both resist the social "status quo" and "learn to love somebody." McSwain cited the abuse his family faced at white hands and his lighter-skinned mother's determination to "prove she was still with us."

"Should I have hate in my heart?" he posed. "You can't have hate in your heart with Jesus living there at the same time. . .When you establish a relationship with people, and you come to respect people for who they are, you'll come to find out they know a little bit more than you and they can help you more than you thought they could. How valuable is it for us to be together as a people? Together, we stand; divided, we fall."

Vigil participants left hand prints on a message paper roll and wrote a messages to the families in Charleston, and NIOT:B/N distributed anti-bigotry/anti-bullying pledge cards. Local youths with their parents lit candles and led prayers for each of the nine victims, and representatives of Bloomington's Second Presbyterian Church, First Christian Church and Moses Montefiore Temple offered devotions. In her closing benediction, First Christian Associate Minister Kelley Becker asked to "enable us, despite our circumstances, to live together, respecting, embracing, and loving one another."

Mt. Pisgah youth choir director Shirley Boykins led the group in the hymn We Need You to Survive before participants linked in a Unity Circle around the Mt. Pisgah sanctuary.

Meanwhile, vigil guest Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner asked the community to join his department in fighting racism and potential violence to help ensure a Charleston-style tragedy never occurs in the Twin Cities. Heffner reiterated the BPD's commitment to "serve and give back to you in the community."

 "We have to be strong together," the chief stressed. "If you see something, say something. And work with us so that we can hopefully help a prevent a tragedy like that. It's going to take all of us working together.

"We may not always get along -- we may disagree on some things. But the bottom line is, we are all here together."

Vigil for Charleston Tragedy Wednesday at Mt. Pisgah

As Americans struggled with, joined to console the survivors of, and find understanding following Wednesday's race-motivated church shootings in South Carolina, Twin Citians commemorated the deaths in Charleston and sought answers to preventing future tragedies.

Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal will sponsor a Vigil Prayer Service from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday  at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, 801 W. Market Street.

This service is designed according to NIOT:B/N coordinator Willie Holton Halbert to "lift up the families in Charleston, the community, and the nation, in prayer and refection."  Mt. Pisgah Pastor Frank McSwain will share words of encouragement, and other local ministers are expected to offer scripture readings.

Donations also will be accepted for Charleston's Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and the families of those killed by Dylann Roof.

Roof, 21, appeared Friday afternoon by video feed at a bond hearing in Charleston, where he listened to the anguished words of relatives of nine victims he gunned down Wednesday night at a Bible study at the historic Emanuel AME. Roof had been welcomed into the group and attended for roughly an hour before opening fire. Roof told officers at his arrest that he had hoped to incite a race war, but whites and blacks rallied in Charleston to console the stricken Emanuel congregation and victims' families.

The nine victims of the Charleston church shootings.

Meanwhile, Roof may face federal charges and a potential death sentence. The U.S. Justice Department issued a statement Friday saying, "This heartbreaking episode was undoubtedly designed to strike fear and terror into this community, and the department is looking at this crime from all angles, including as a hate crime and as an act of domestic terrorism."

In Bloomington, Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal leader Alderman Karen Schmidt Friday attended what she deemed "a very moving prayer service" for the Charleston victims at Wayman AME Church.

The Charleston incident has raised a number of issues, including heightened gun control debate in Congress; controversy surrounding racial remarks made by white Judge James Gosnell, who presided at Roof's hearing; and a call to remove Confederate flags associated with racism from government places.

"It's time," argues Bloomington First Christian Church Associate Minister Kelley Becker. "We can't dictate what people display on their own property, but government space, public space, should not be sullied by these flags."

In the summer of 1996, when African-American churches were being burnt in the South, a “Not In Our Town – No Racism” march was held, drawing a large and diverse coalition.

A group from that march went south to help rebuild a church and people signed a “no racism” pledge. Mayor Jesse Smart stepped up police patrols around African-American churches, to prevent a repeat of what was then happening in Southern states.

The national Not In Our Town organization offers three ways individuals can help in the aftermath of the Charleston shootings:

1. Send a Message of Support to Charleston: Show the families of the nine victims and other church members that they are not alone. They need to know they are surrounded by people who care. Post messages online or send them to info@niot.org and Not In Our Town will share them, print them, and send them on to the AME church. Send a donation to the families. The outpouring of support can mean so much to the community in this time of darkness and grief.
2. Act Locally/Connect with People in Your Town: Bring your community together to honor those who were killed through vigils, church services, and gatherings. This moment of sadness and heightened awareness is a time to bridge differences. Reach out to people who may be targets of hate or intolerance. Get in touch with Black churches in your town and bring together different religious and community groups. Sign banners and pledges to share with those in South Carolina and elsewhere. Include local law enforcement in your planning, and ask them to make sure all community members feel safe. (See examples below.)
3. Commit to Ongoing Action to Stop Hate and Bigotry: Form a NIOT group that works to build a safe, inclusive community for everyone. Make a commitment to take ongoing action to prevent hate in our schools, workplaces and communities. Open dialogues about how  to build better understanding about racism and bias. Start by signing the NIOT Pledge and sharing it with friends and family.

Escaping the Labyrinth: Second Chances, New Opportunities

A labyrinth is a complex maze, virtually inescapable without an understanding of the rules and the system. For many women attempting to start anew following incarceration or imprisonment,

Bloomington-based Labyrinth Outreach Services to Women provides support for women in McLean County returning home from prison or the McLean County Jail. It’s the only such resource of its kind for Bloomington-Normal and surrounding communities.  Labyrinth assists women in securing state identification, transportation, employment preparation; housing, food, and clothing resources; medical and prescription assistance; GED, education, and job training linkages;  long-term counseling and case management; family reunification including parenting resources; a spiritual community of their choice; a support system; and special opportunities when available, such as vocational training, art therapy, and holiday gatherings.

Labyrinth’s first vocational training program – Breaking the Cycle of Female Ex-Offender Employment --  was held this summer with six women graduating. The classes explored résumé development, interviewing, financial literacy, explaining a criminal record, and exposed students to careers that are traditionally considered “a man’s job” but can lead to economic stability and successful careers. As a result, Labyrinth clients could find solid, well-paying work as electricians or welders or in landscaping, carpentry, sheet metal, plumbing, farming, construction, or maintenance.

But despite advanced opportunities and community-based support, Labyrinth Program coordinator and case manager Kristin Manzi notes continued wariness of or prejudice toward even long-released ex-offenders. In the following interview excerpt, Manzi  stressed ex-offenders will continue to live in the community “regardless of whether we make opportunities better,”  and pled a second chance for individuals who could prove an asset to an employer. Check out Labyrinth at http://www.labyrinthoutreach.org/, and listen to the entire interview at www.integrityhelps.org.