Almost every one of the large multinational nonprofits who get all the attention and attribution for the work they do to support society's marginalized started as the small, obscure, empathetic impulses of their founders. Jane Addams labored in obscurity for many years to found Hull House in Chicago, the first settlement house to provide services to immigrants and the poor. Many years later, she was one of the first women to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
We recently interviewed a woman who had just been released from Perryville prison in Goodyear, Arizona. She told us how a reentry program, that we frankly had never heard of, saved her life and launched her successful reentry back into civilian life after she was released from Perryville prison. Bridges Reentry was founded by Gay Romack "to provide a reentry environment of healing for formerly incarcerated women to support them in their journey toward physical well-being, emotional and spiritual health, and economic independence."
In the Beginning
Approximately 3300 women are released from Perryville prison each year. 50% have no home to return to and no family support. Bridges Reentry volunteers arrive at Perryville Prison on release day prepared to provide safe transportation, care packages, and food. Care packages include hygiene products and clothing. Volunteers also offer the recently released women a meal at a restaurant, safe transportation to a transitional home or shelter, and ensure they arrive at their parole appointment within their 24-hour requirement.
Beyond a Lift and a Meal
Bridges Reentry founders quickly realized that most of the women they transported from the prison proper had no place to go after their first night in a shelter, no funds and no idea how to find employment after serving time in prison. They responded by developing the Beyond the Gates Mentoring program to train first-time mentors, who had themselves been recently released from Perryville Prison, how to provide peer support to the women who followed them out the prison gates. This 12-month One-to-One Mentoring program trains first-time mentors, matches mentors with emerging women, and provides peer support during their reentry journey.
Gradually the newly minted mentors convinced Bridges Reentry that the formerly incarcerated women needed a safe place to stay for an extended period to allow them to get their feet on the ground. Bridges again responded by developing a comprehensive 2-year residential program at two locations: Crystal Gardens and Magdalene House, both 12 bed facilities located in master planned communities in the west valley of Phoenix, AZ. This extended stay allows residents to assimilate into the community and live as members of the neighborhood, free from stigma and labels.
At Bridges Reentry they don't ask what's wrong with you, they ask what happened to you? In this spirit, Bridges developed their Transition to Success (TTS) program, an evidence-based healing program designed to treat the social determinants of health as an environmental medical condition. TTS protocols create a coordinated system of care across healthcare, human service, government, education and faith-based organizations to maximize funding streams and hold systems accountable.
Bridges Reentry continued to look for ways to help formerly incarcerated women not only to survive, but to thrive after they reentered society. They believed that if a formerly incarcerated woman could envision a successful life after prison, she could make it happen. "If she can see it, she can be it," is their mantra. Through a collaboration with Walden University, Bridges Reentry developed the Higher Education Reentry Success (HERS) program to provide flexible, online learning opportunities to mentees and staff.
“I am convinced that life on the outside for the incarcerated can be successful. I’ve seen the joy and dignity of returning citizens when they feel accepted and not rejected. More than 90% of incarcerated women are released into society with the hope and fear of starting a new life for themselves. They face stigmas, housing restrictions, employment barriers, family alienation, and isolation. They need communities to embrace and empower them to become the people they were meant to be.”
Founded in 2012 by Deacon Gay Romack, Prison and Outreach Ministries, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Litchfield Park, AZ.