The Restoring Integrity Project supports the successful transition of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. This is done through giving them the opportunity to promote integrity while incarcerated and upon release. Assisting ex-prisoners in finding and keeping employment, identifying transitional housing, and receiving mentoring are three key elements of successful re-entry into our communities. T.R.I.P. offers its formerly incarcerated clients the opportunity to pass their prior experiences on to the community’s youth in an effort to guide them away from an ill fated future.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice there are over 10,000 prisoners released from America’s state and federal prisons every week and arrive on the doorsteps of our nation's communities. More than 650,000 ex-offenders are released from prison every year, and studies show that approximately two-thirds will likely be rearrested within three years of release. The high volume of returnees is a reflection on the tremendous growth in the U.S. prison population during the past 30 years. For the communities to which most former prisoners return (communities which are often impoverished and disenfranchised neighborhoods with few social supports and persistently high crime rates), the release of ex-offenders represents a variety of challenges.
“This year, some 600,000 inmates will be released from prison back into society. We know from long experience that if they can’t find work, or a home, or help, they are much more likely to commit more crimes and return to prison…. America is the land of the second chance, and when the gates of the prison open, the path ahead should lead to a better life.”
--President George W. Bush, 2004 State of the Union Address
