FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2015
100 NYC Faith Leaders Support Reentry of Formerly-Incarcerated
Faith Leaders were joined by New York City
Department of Correction Commissioner Joseph Ponte
NEW YORK – Last week, on November 4th, over 100 religiously diverse faith leaders convened at the Interchurch Center in upper Manhattan for the 31st Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Retreat on Social Justice organized by the Interfaith Center of New York with support from the J.C. Flowers Foundation. This year’s conference, “Coming Home: Faith Communities Supporting Successful Reentry” addressed the challenges people face upon their release from prison and provided an opportunity for faith, government and community leaders to come together to strategize on ways to support formerly incarcerated individuals on their path to reentry. Religious leaders gathered just days after 6,000 individuals who have served lengthy sentences for drug offenses were released from federal prisons as a result of changes in sentencing guidelines for drug offenses by the U.S. Sentencing Commission last year. And on Monday, President Obama announced a series of reforms intended to make it easier for formerly incarcerated individuals to find jobs and live in subsidized housing.
Leaders in attendance pledged to work to foster reentry in their congregations and communities by raising public awareness about the challenges individuals face when they return home and through direct support to the formerly incarcerated.
According to a report by the Harlem Community Justice Center, in 2014 2,500 individuals on parole were released to Manhattan. These individuals face tremendous challenges as they attempt to return to the community. Based on self-reported information from a subsample of individuals released on parole in Harlem, less than half (45%) were employed or in school one year after release. Of those who found employment, the average annual income reported was less than $12,500 and only 14% reported health insurance coverage. It is not the least bit surprising, then, that over half of individuals on parole who are sent home to Harlem are rearrested within 18 months of their release, and that 37% are reconvicted.
“Religious leaders and faith volunteers from New York’s neighborhood with the highest recidivism rates play a special role in welcoming home returning citizens. Not only can faith communities help with basic needs but they can offer formerly incarcerated individuals a chance to give back to the communities and the city from which they came,” said Rev. Chloe Breyer, executive director of the Interfaith Center of New York.
Commissioner Joe Ponte said: “The NYC Department of Correction is deeply involved in helping inmates re-enter society and reduce recidivism, with an expanding array of classes to address social, psychological, educational and job-training needs. Ministries and faith communities have long experience in helping formerly incarcerated people transition back to the community, and are key in our efforts. We look forward to deepening that cooperation.”
“The Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY) deserves much praise for shining a light on the helpful role that faith communities can and must play during the demanding process of prisoner reentry,” said Anne J. Williams, Executive Director of Network in the Prisons/Network in the Community and Circles of Support partner. “Today’s retreat drew together an impressive group of spiritual, government and social justice leaders who earnestly engaged in a conversation that will add discernible results to existing faith-based efforts to ease the burdens of transition to the community. Reentry is not about statistics and numbers, parolees or prisoners, it is about people: our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers; who better to welcome them home than faith volunteers whose very lives are guided by compassion and community engagement?”
The Reverend Frank Morales of All Souls’ Church in Harlem said, “Jesus said to ‘free the captives’ – it is our responsibility to free our sisters and brothers from the violations and wounds of retributive incarceration.”
This year’s conference presenters included Marta Nelson, Executive Director of the Governor’s Council on Community Reentry and Reintegration, Commissioner Joseph Ponte, NYC Department of Correction, Jeffrey Smith, Professor and Author of “Mr. Smith Goes to Prison,” Debbie Boar and Chris Watler of the Harlem Community Justice Center, Sister Tesa Fitzgerald from Hour Children, Mika’il DeVeaux, Professor & Doctoral Candidate, Willard Shelton, Network Support Services, Rev. Frank Morales from All Souls’ Church in Harlem, Barbara Barron from CASES, Margaret diZerega from the Vera Institute of Justice, and Russelle “Rusti” Miller-Hill and Jeffery Rivera, recent graduates of Raising My Voice: a leadership program to help individuals returning to the community share their stories. The conference was moderated by Dr. Rev. Alfonso Wyatt.
About the Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer Retreat on Social Justice
The Marshall Meyer Retreat is New York City’s principal concourse for interfaith education and dialogue on local social justice issues and the Interfaith Center’s longest running program. Held bi-annually since 1998, the retreat is a professional development and capacity building opportunity for religious leaders, allowing faith leaders to learn about social issues, create networks for mutual support, and meet civic leaders and service providers. The retreats are named after Rabbi Marshall Meyer, who was a religious leader actively engaged in social justice projects and building partnerships with other faith communities.
The program has provided a civics education for over 2000 diverse local religious and community leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Native American, Jain, and Afro-Caribbean religious communities.
About the Interfaith Center of New York
The Interfaith Center of New York (ICNY) works to overcome prejudice, violence, and misunderstanding by activating the power of the city’s grassroots religious and civic leaders and their communities.
CONTACT: Rev. Chloe Breyer, Executive Director, The Interfaith Center of New York: 212-870-3532, cbreyer@interfaithcenter.org.
A high resolution version of this group photo is available here.
Photo Caption: Some of the 100 faith leaders who attended the Marshall Meyer Retreat supporting reentry
Credit for Photos: Kevin Childress, SocialNet Works, LLC
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