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Articles:
St. Louis Review
St. Louis Review
September 16, 2005
Support for ex-offenders increasing, say those who try to help their re-entry
by Joseph Kenny, Review Staff Writer
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A new attitude is emerging toward helping
prison inmates re-enter society, according to the director of Project
COPE. "In the last few years there's been a new trend in re-entry
support," said Linda Schroeder. "Its reached the federal level
and has developed even more at the state level."
One such program is the Release to
Rent Program of the Criminal Justice Ministry of the Society of St. Vincent
de Paul, which focuses on housing and supporting offenders as they return
from prison.
Project COPE is an ecumenical community re-entry support program for ex-offenders
that will celebrate its 20th anniversary Saturday, Sept. 17.
The program's mission is to provide
selected ex-offenders with the support they need to become productive
and competent members of society. Its congregation-based partnership teams
and transitional housing program offer close personal relationships to
help clients overcome their problems in the crucial first year out of
prison when the problems of adjustment are most severe.
Community reparation programs work
because citizen volunteers talk straight with the ex-offenders and let
them know someone cares, Schroeder said.
Project COPE has about 12 congregations
assisting ex-offenders and a few others that are awaiting a match. Other
congregations give the program financial support. In the past 20 years,
38 congregations have been involved.
Among the Catholic parishes now involved
are St. Joseph in Clayton, Holy Trinity in North St. Louis and St. Cronan
in Midtown. St. Francis Xavier (College) Church in Midtown, St. Jude in
Overland, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis in the Central West End
and the former St. Bridget in North St. Louis are among the parishes that
previously were active in the program.
Schroeder said there is a waiting list
of about 40 inmates who want to be in the program. Schroeder visits with
each applicant in a screening process to select those most likely to succeed
with help from the community. Training is provided to the congregation-based
teams of volunteers, and the teams receive advice throughout their year-long
partnership.
Project COPE participants help ex-offenders
with immediate needs such as food, shelter and clothing as well as transportation,
employment and family counseling.
"We desperately need more volunteer
teams," Schroeder said.
Also sought are donations to help the program
with costs of traveling to prisons, training teams, providing support
materials and arranging transitional housing for some of the clients.
The help needed by ex-offenders in starting over is similar to the help
Hurricane Katrina survivors need, Schroeder noted.
"Many people in prison are traumatized
terribly by the experience of incarceration, compounded by the brutality.
They are battered, penniless, with no job or clothes and are in need of
counseling. They have nowhere to go."
Each month, about 750 people are released
from Missouri prisons, with 40 percent returning to the St. Louis area.
About two-thirds will return to prison because of parole violations or
new crimes, costing taxpayers more than $14,000 per inmate per year.
Through re-entry support, Schroeder
noted, ex-offenders can achieve independence and stability, and the community
is protected and enriched.
Bobby Moseley is one such success story,
and he is among those who will be honored at a Sept. 17 event at St. Francis
Xavier. Moseley's return from prison was at first marked by struggles.
He turned himself around about 10 years ago and now volunteers with the
program.
Another honoree is Father Gerald Kleba,
pastor of St. Cronan Parish, who has recruited and trained partnership
teams from various parishes where he has been assigned. Mike Willock of
the Second Presbyterian Church in St. Louis also will be honored.
A Champion of Justice Award will go
to School Sister of Notre Dame Jackie Toben, founder of Let's Start, a
program for women who have been in prison and are determined to change
their lives.
A second justice award winner is Circuit
Judge Philip Heagney, honored for his commitment to alternative sentencing
of offenders. His work, Schroeder said, shows his dedication to preventing
people from ending up in the prison system.
A third honoree is Gary Kempker, former
director of the Missouri Department of Corrections. He is honored for
supporting and developing re-entry programs. He still is involved as a
senior analyst with the Center for Effective Policy Change in Washington,
D.C.
For information on taking part in or
supporting Project COPE, call (314) 389-4804 or send an e-mail message
to office@projcope.org. Also, see www.projcope.org.
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