A hand up for returning citizens
The LaFayette Area Corrections Task Force including representatives from LaFayette Presbyterian, Corinth Baptist, LaFayette First United Methodist, Highlands Presbyterian Church, other churches and a number of agencies received the designation of “Station of Hope” from the Faith and Justice Initiative, a division of the Re-Entry Services Unit, a program of the Georgia Department of Community Supervision (DCS) on Saturday, April 29, 2017.
The presentation was made by the Faith and Justice Healing Communities staff along with Brent Martin, Assistant Chief for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Office of DCS.
More than five area churches, including host church Highlands Presbyterian, were represented during the day-long workshop on mentoring sponsored by the Task Force and the Re-Entry Services unit.
The workshop was an intensive preparation for local persons interested in becoming a mentor for a man or woman returning to the community in the near future. The workshop was led by John Bruce, Inga Vaughn and Carol Cox — all from the Central Office in Atlanta.
There will be hundreds of persons released from Georgia prisons in the coming years. Many will return to Northwest Georgia due to the continuing decline of Georgia’s prison population, which stood at 51,822 at the end of 2015, down from a peak of 54,895 in July, 2012.
It is important for the community, for the returning citizens and their families, and for the state of Georgia that they be successful in finding housing, jobs, and a church home, while meeting basic human needs.
The mentoring opportunity, known as “I Choose Support” is an additional effort of the Task Force which offers a number of services, including short-term housing, for those returning to this area. Such housing has the goal of supporting them in establishing new stable, productive lives and avoiding future violations of the law while they become contributing members of our local communities, including strong connections with a local congregation.
There will be another opportunity for persons interested in volunteering as mentors for returning citizens to be offered by Project Destiny of Dalton, later this year. More participants/ congregations in the La Fayette Area Correctional Task Force are welcome. Call Dr. David Boyle, 706-764-2801, for more information. For information on Prisoner Reentry, see https://dcs.georgia. gov/georgia-prisonerreentry-initiative.