TEACH ‘EM TO FISH!!!
By Barry Diamond
I recently came back from lecturing at the National Reentry Vision Summit Conference in Austin, TX. My workshop was information about the unique training program that we developed called P.R.I.D.E. PROGRAM (people reentering into doing entrepreneurship) exclusively for incarcerated people, formerly incarcerated people and people with a criminal background to learn how to go into business for themselves. I met hundreds of people representing Service Provider organizations from all over the U.S. They all had the same problem. Not enough money to provide quality education to rehabilitate people in prison /released people, not enough cooperation between Service Providers within the state and no community understanding of the problem. The following situation is interesting, please read and answer to yourself.
Your son, daughter, brother, mother or father has not been in the country for many years and suddenly is released to come home. They have no food, clothing, money, transportation, job or any way to contact you. What would you do to help them if you could? I just described the average first day for someone released from prison.
Too many communities have too few jobs and too few companies that are willing to take a chance with hiring them. If we can educate released individuals how to go into business for themselves they stand a better chance of succeeding than going back to jail. I am introducing into different communities and jails this new program (P.R.I.D.E. PROGRAM) that teaches them how to be entrepreneurs. It is unique because it is 60 % business date, 40% Life Lessons. It is a 10 week course taught one day a week from 9-11:30 A.M. Subjects such as: Banking, Legal, Accounting, Quickbooks, Marketing, Sales, Computers, Web Design, Life Lessons, Positive Mental Attitude, How To Be Creative, and much more, are introduced after every student has been prepared to learn the material. Classes are taught by professionals in the field and mentoring is provided. There is a follow up session once a month for six months after graduation to make sure everyone successfully goes into business. We are in our third year with a recidivism rate of only 9%. In September we will have training sites in four major cities and inside one prison in the state of Connecticut.
If you have ever wondered what it is like to be in jail please read this poem written by a person who was incarcerated:
SEVEN DAYS OF VANILLA
"What's it like inside jail"
Days change to weeks
Weeks become months
Months become years
Lifetime by the minute
Seven days of vanilla
All the time
Surrounded by isolation
In a sea of sadness
Sad stories
Circumstances same too
Lives of frustration
Futures unknown
The world goes by
But each day stands still
Anesthetized by sameness
And to what end
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Recreation time between
Then back in the cell
Time to wait again
Come out, go in
Eat, sleep, read
T.V., radio
Go back out
Sameness, sameness
Like endless drops of water
on tough granite
Stripping off the veneer
Dulling the sharpness
Rounding the edges
No more differences
Now round pegs, rounded holes
TEACH THEM HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES. GIVE THEM SKILLS TO SURVIVE. IF YOU DON’T THEN DON’T COMPLAIN ABOUT RECIDIVISM. YOUR SON, DAUGHTER, BROTHER, MOTHER OR FATHER IS GOING BACK TO JAIL.
BARRY DIAMOND
Executive Director, P.R.I.D.E. PROGRAM
Reentry Survivors LLC
theprideprogram@gmail.com
1-203-767-4090
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