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Pray for special use permit for W. Illinois site
January 18, 2009
Brother’s Keeper is developing a Recovery Support Services program in Evansville, Indiana.
God is working in a mighty way, to guide the Brother’s Keeper program to meet the needs of men returning to society from prison.
We continue to explore ideas for the use of the property at 114 W. Illinois Street owned by auctioneer Herb Hatt. We are on the docket with the Area Plan Commission to make a special use permit request on February 19, 2009 to gain approval to renovate the building for our in-house services.
We also, have a Plan B developed to provide Recovery Support Services to men without a residential program. This program is designed to assist the formerly incarcerated men find their way in Vanderburgh County and thus reduce the numbers returning to prison. Experience shows us that unless men’s basic needs of a JOB, a place to LIVE, and a SUPPORT SYSTEM are met, a wall is hit that many are unable to pass through by themselves. This failure usually causes them to return to the streets and the comfort of the life style that led them to violate the laws that led them to prison.
Brother’s Keeper will evaluate all men who are sent to us by the prison chaplain, the local probation department, police departments and those who qualify through the Indiana Access to Recovery (ATR) Program. Bob Collins is on the local “Weed & Seed” committee that regularly reviews and assesses needs of Branchville inmates soon to be released.
After completing our application and interview process, the probation officer, police department, or ATR will be notified of acceptance or rejection into our recovery services program. A mentor will be assigned to assist the participant in completing our program.
Requirements for program include:
#1. Mandatory and unscheduled drug testing. Failure to pass drug testing requires us to notify the proper authorities and the individual loses the services of the program.
#2. Every effort will be made to see that each client is adequately housed with family or alone. Financial support/assistance will be provided on a case by case basis according to need and men will have a scheduled repayment agreement. We have an apartment available from the owner of the apartment complex near the W. Illinois Street property to be used as a temporary/emergency housing unit for participants. When we get a special use permit, we will be able to create dorm-type living at the property for greater monitoring and accountability of participants.
#3. Brother’s Keeper will provide many of the recovery support activities available through Indiana’s Access to Recovery program. Tri-State Men’s Center is applying for provider status with ATR.
The Access to Recovery Grant is a new initiative administered by the Department of Mental Health and Addiction. The goals of this grant are to expand capacity of addiction recovery services; support client choice; and increase the array of faith-based and community based services for clinical treatment and recovery support.
The grant will be for clients recovering from methamphetamine addictions and cannot be repeat clients. The populations to be served will include individuals recently released from the Criminal Justice System recovering from methamphetamine addictions.
The services required by the ATR grant are: clinical treatment services, case management recovery support services, medical services, after care recovery support services, education/recovery support services and peer to peer recovery support services.
A voucher system is used for the client to decide which provider services he wants to use. The client is given a list of providers for each service they have been approved for. This information will consist of faith-based and community based service providers.
The boards immediate needs include:
• Workers to assist with renovating the site to be used for Brother’s Keeper as well as restoration of the apartment that will be used for emergency and temporary shelter.
• Mentors to work with participants as they re-enter the community program. Volunteers will be needed to drive men to needed appointments when public transportation is not available.
• Assistance with job search and development, including education and training coordination.
• Individuals wishing to assist Brother’s Keeper on a personal, ongoing basis are encouraged to join us at our Saturday morning meetings at the new facility on W. Illinois Street (just NW of the Lloyd and Main). As our program expands, we will be seeking persons to consider becoming a member of the board of directors for Tri-State Men’s Center.
Please pass this message on to others you know would be interested in this Prison After-Care Ministry of the Tri-State Men’s Center in Evansville. To get future newsletters please SUBSCRIBE on the newsletter page of our website www.tristatemenscenter.org which is being use to ensure that future newsletters only go out to those that subscribe.
** Note: after you enter your e-mail address and click on “SUBSCRIBE”, you will get a confirmation e-mail from listserver@tristatemenscenter.org to which you need to reply through a system link in order for us to verify your desire to get a newsletter. Thank you for your interest in Brother’s Keeper, a ministry of Tri-State Men’s Center, Inc.
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