PROJECT RETURN INC
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Mission Statement
Project Return's mission is to provide services and connect people with resources needed to return successfully to work and community after incarceration.
About This Cause
Since its inception, Project Return has been solely dedicated to men and women who have been incarcerated and want more than anything to leave prison behind. Our vision is a full and free life after incarceration, and our mission is to provide services and connect people with resources needed to return successfully to work and community after incarceration. These services are available, free of charge, to any person recently released from incarceration who was either convicted of a felony or served at least 90 days on a serious misdemeanor. Our participants are motivated job seekers, fueled by their desire to have a new beginning and lead a productive life. We meet that need with opportunity, and a judgment-free approach in which we embrace the individuals who make their way – destitute but determined – to Project Return. Our primary focus is employment – because that is the #1 predictor of a free future – and we wrap that around with a full array of assistance and signature support. We coach people through their job search, acquisition, advancement, and retention. We begin by providing food, transportation, and clothing to participants as needed, and incentivize participation in our Job Readiness (soft skills) program, a 2.5-day curriculum specifically developed for people who have been incarcerated. Our Job Readiness curriculum addresses the array of soft skills needed to be successful in the workplace, and additionally incorporates financial literacy, relapse prevention, interview practice, and digital literacy. Completion of our Job Readiness classes leads to a structured day of individualized assistance, including résumé development, mock interviewing, and job search planning. And this is just the beginning of our ongoing assistance and support. Our work is relationship-based, and our services are intensive, iterative, and individualized. Our service continuum is designed to spread over a course of about 15 months, with a few discrete opportunities – entrepreneurship training, and affordable housing, for example – as well as ongoing assistance with employment, that arise in the years to follow. We provided our signature services and support to a total of 1,273 individuals in 2018. Unlike many organizations serving justice-involved people, Project Return is not a mandated program, and we do not take referrals from officers within the correctional system; rather, men and women choose to come to Project Return of their own volition. We offer the opportunity for immediate employment through our transitional jobs social enterprise, Project Return Opportunities for Employment (PROe). We are people’s best first job after prison! PROe allows us to bridge the terrible gap between incarceration and regular employment; our transitional employees gain income, work experience, personalized coaching, and, most importantly, a pathway to their brighter future. For any job acquisition, we provide participants with equipment, clothing, transportation, and ongoing coaching, including wraparound support, encouragement, and feedback. We pair that employment-centered assistance with a wide array of wraparound services and ongoing support to address their immediate, critical needs, such as: paying for medical, dental, and vision exams; connecting them to mental health and substance abuse support services; purchasing birth certificates and photo IDs; providing food, clothing, and bus passes; and dispensing stipends for housing and utility expenses. Additional programs at Project Return include child support services, job retention services, and hard skills training courses, as well as an entrepreneurship program.