A Letter From UCOM Executive Director Bruce Roller
Dear Friend of UCOM,
Where do you turn for hope when you are newly released from prison? When Marcus got out he found his family ties severed and no church connections able to help. There were way too many people standing in line for available jobs—people who had not spent the past eight years behind bars. Housing soon was an issue, and Marcus became one of the homeless. Now he is sleeping in missions when he can and under the bridge when the missions are too crowded. Drugs and alcohol are all around him, and there is plenty of peer pressure to engage in some of the behaviors that brought him to prison in the first place. When he was first released Marcus was determined to do it right this time, but every day of negative reinforcement takes him one step further from his goal. Marcus is on his way to being a statistic—one more of the 67% of released prisoners who find their way back into incarceration within three years of their release.
You have seen the detriments of crime and recidivism: broken homes, children without good role models, unsafe neighborhoods, rampant drug abuse, homelessness and hopelessness. The Department of Corrections agrees that there must be a better way to use our resources rather than building more prisons—a way that helps people to re-integrate into society, to become productive citizens, to restore family relationships and to forge new networks that lead to improved lives.
Restore Hope, a program of UCOM, is just such a restorative justice model. Our newest project Dave’s House is a broad-based collaborative, the least of which is an intermediate residence for people who really want to get their lives together after release from incarceration. Utilizing an integrated program of education, psychological and spiritual support, job-readiness preparation, transitional employment, job placement, and community involvement, Dave’s House offers another chance to people who have failed to live up to society’s expectations. It holds people accountable for their past and helps them to take responsibility for their present and future.
An outstanding advisory committee of community leaders is helped open Dave’s House to our first group of re-entering citizens in June of 2012. Though up and running, we need to add your support to this project. The start-up costs and first year of operation require about $170,000. Two very generous gifts totaling $55,000 bring us nearly 1/3 of the way to our goal. Your gift will make sure we can continue this important program. Every day counts as we move to make our community safer, families happier and lives better by this innovative collaboration.
Yours for a better life for all of us,
Dr. Bruce Roller
UCOM Executive Director
