Philanthrocapitalism_ How Giving Can Save the World - Matthew Bishop [45]
We have more than two million people incarcerated, more than any other Western country. The vast majority are imprisoned for nonviolent offenses. More than 90 percent of them will eventually get out. Each year 750,000 prisoners, including 150,000 juveniles, are released. Theoretically, they have paid their debt to society and are entitled to a new beginning. Too few of our fellow citizens are willing to give it to them. Thankfully, Ready4Work, the Bard Prison Initiative, and Citizens Against Recidivism do.
Wintley Phipps, one of America’s best-known gospel singers, founded the U.S. Dream Academy to help the children of inmates avoid becoming collateral damage. Sixty to seventy percent of the children of prisoners eventually wind up in prison too. Phipps created his U.S. Dream Academy to break the cycle he had seen play out all too painfully in his own family’s life: all seven of his wife’s brothers and sisters had spent time in jail. The academy focuses on children in grades two through eight, offering mentoring, tutoring, and access to computers and the Internet. The mentors offer the children positive role models and work to build their self-esteem with affection and positive reinforcement. Wintley wants these children “to find their own voice and their own path in life.” There are now ten Dream Academy Learning Centers across America, including two in Washington, D.C., where the program started. If your community has a U.S. Dream Academy, you might want to volunteer to be a mentor. You’ll be giving a chance to kids before they get in trouble.
Many churches are directly involved in this kind of giving. The Pentecostals of Alexandria, a large Pentecostal church in central Louisiana, is a particularly impressive example. Its Grace House affords homeless men, including those recently incarcerated, the chance to build a new life for themselves. At any given time, Grace House can provide food, shelter, alcohol and drug abuse education, and life-skills training to sixteen men. The residents go through a three-phase program on the way to independence. During the first thirty days, residents are not allowed to leave the premises, except to attend church or approved meetings and classes. They cook, clean, mow the lawn, and perform other tasks. In the second phase, the men are allowed to seek and secure jobs, open a bank account, and get a driver’s license. They can also, if they choose, become involved in church activities. To enter the final phase, the resident must receive the approval of two-thirds of those living with him at the shelter. At this point, they can drive, develop outside relationships, and help run Grace House.
Over the last two decades, nearly five thousand men have been through Grace House. In addition to leading productive lives, many have remained active members of the church. Harris Washington had been arrested numerous times—for everything from drugs to assault to robbery to resisting arrest. He was sleeping under a bridge when he found Grace House, more than ten years ago. Today, he has a home, a job, and a ministry. And he contributes $500 a year to Grace House. In 1997, John Russell had gone from being a star basketball player to an alcohol and drug addict, reduced to scavenging for food in dumpsters. After standing on a bridge over the Red River contemplating suicide, he sought shelter in the halls of a nearby hospital, where he overheard someone talking on the phone about Grace House. He found his way there. Today, John Russell is married with two children and works full-time for the Pentecostals of Alexandria. He oversees the church’s House of Mercy,