Visitors' Services Center
WISH LIST: $100: metro/bus tokens for 5 people attending a 2-week job training; $500: 750 VSC "pocket guide of services" for ex-offenders; $1000: 50 duplicate birth certificates necessary for obtaining ID
Helping people charged with breaking the law can be unpopular work, and Visitors Services Center makes no excuse for criminal behavior. But it also knows that most prisoners will return to the community and that successful reintegration begins on day one of incarceration -- if inmates can maintain ties to the outside world. Committed volunteers help with immediate needs: getting messages to families and attorneys, retrieving property, sending birthday cards -- or just finding someone to feed the dog. Later, information and referrals on job training, drug treatment, housing -- to inmates while incarcerated and ex-offenders upon release -- becomes critical. Books and recording equipment let inmates read to their young children. After release, ex-offenders can drop by and use the office phone and internet, pick up bus tokens, find shelter, have a grilled cheese sandwich, or get funds to secure an ID. Maintaining family ties and forging bonds with the community means inmates are better prepared for release into the world we all share –- to live, to work, and to raise their children.
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