Our mission:
The South Jersey Community Reentry Coalition’s mission is to promote safety and healthy communities through awareness, advocacy and collaborative efforts that will enhance the opportunities for the offender to become a law-abiding, self-sufficient member of society. The Coalition serves the following counties: Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties.
Our Philosophy:
- It’s a fact that most inmates come home. Many live in or come from low-income communities and struggle to find employment, overcome addiction and avoid criminal associations.
- With few job prospects, family pressures and often a lack of marketable skills, many ex-offenders find it challenging to stay on the right path. Life is easier when you are part of a network of friends and family; a neighborhood.
- Community members can help ex-offenders make a successful transition from prison to society.
- In addition to helping the individual, community support provides a much needed service to the community at large by helping to reduce crime and increase public safety.
In an effort to promote safe and healthy communities, the South Jersey Community Reentry Coalition seeks to support current collaborative efforts in Southern New Jersey that are focused on crime prevention and prisoner reentry by:
- Creating a forum for the exchange of ideas and initiatives that will strengthen neighborhoods and help prevent crime;Promoting public awareness about the vital role that the community plays in successful offender reentry;
- Encouraging broad-based community support and involvement to assist formerly incarcerated individuals and their families striving to re-establish healthy, productive and rewarding lives;
- Building stronger relationships between the community and institutional corrections.
Our partners:
- Faith-Based leaders and others of faith who desire to help those in need of mentoring
- Members of civic groups and charities with a vision to get involved Social Services and Human
- Services personnel at the local and county levels
- Members of the law enforcement community at the municipal, county and state levels
- Representatives with labor and employment experience to guide those to find meaningful work
- Government representatives from cities, counties, state and federal levels including parole, corrections, probation, drug court and other supervising agencies
Our next steps:
- Continue to engage and educate the community about the ex-offender population. (these are your community members)
- Strengthen our network by using technology to connect resources both inside and outside of the jails and prisons. (our new website)
- Promote the importance of mentorship. Encourage/serve as a support for the faith based communities and/or organizations that wish to provide mentoring services.
