Our Place, DC
WISH LIST: $100: birth certificates for 10 women, allowing them to apply for jobs; $500: medicine and toiletries for 25 women; $1000: transportation and support for 8 people to visit incarcerated family members
Beverly M is dropped off at the bus station in a prison-issue coat, with a bag of personal possessions in her hand, $65 in her pocket, and nowhere in the world to go. Her situation isn’t unusual: each year hundreds of women are released from prison only to find themselves homeless and friendless. Our Place, DC takes them in and connects them with critical services. In just eight years, it has established in-prison support groups to help women prepare for release, a legal services clinic, and a drop-in support center where women get help with jobs, housing, and medical care. Since 2003, when Our Place was first featured in the Catalogue, it has opened an emergency transitional housing program for women returning from prison who are homeless and HIV positive. Founded by individuals from the legal, business, and social service communities, Our Place also includes staff members who are former prisoners – and who inspire others to restart their lives. Our Place provides a desperately needed service: won’t you reach out and help?
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