From the Reentry Central Staff:
On November 11, 2021, the world lost a warrior against mass incarceration.
During her 85 years on Earth, Dr. Sandy Martin accomplished many things. After attending Quinnipiac University School of Law, Sandy received her Ph.D. at the University of Connecticut. She was an editor for a poular children’s magazine. In the 1970’s she was an advocate for women women’s rights, incuding in the corporate world. She dabbled in venture capitalism, real estate, and entrepreneurship. But her passion was to end mass incarceration and for those who were incarcerated, trying to remove the many obstacles they would face upon being released back into the community.
Deeply concerned about mass incarceration and the high recidivism rate, Sandy created Reentry Central in 2010 to provide trending news and best practices to those working for criminal justice reform. She felt that sharing the works of organizations, agencies, and individuals who were making an impact on ending mass incarceration was helpful to others who might be working toward the same goals.
Concerned about the lack of employment and housing that formerly incarcerated faced, Sandy worked with parole and probation offices in Connecticut to find housing for their clients who were having a hard time finding a safe, stable, and affordable place to live. Practicing what she preached, Sandy rented apartments that she owned to people who had a criminal record. She also hired them to work in maintenance, lawn care/landscaping, snow removal, office work, and also on Reentry Central. The staff of Reentry Central includes formerly incarcerated people who have held down their jobs for over ten years,
Sandy was a great mentor to those struggling with reintegrating back into the community. She advocated in court for those who needed help, not jail.
Recognizing that for criminal justice reform and successful community reintegration to be possible, the government alone could not be responsible for funding programs and initiatives that have been shown to work; Sandy founded the Connecticut Center for Social Innovation.
The Center for Social Innovation’s website states:
“New models of financing social service delivery hold great promise in applying what we know to solve social problems. But these innovations require increased knowledge and ability on the part of providers, funders, and the public in order to develop and to have a real impact. We need to convene the best minds available to engage in a rapid and powerful reversal of “business as usual” in the funding and delivery of our social sector services.
The mission of the Connecticut Center for Social Innovation is to study new developments in this emerging field and to develop funding models which will attract private capital to invest in self-sustaining social service delivery. Creating a double bottom line is a worthy investment for capital markets– and one which has gone undeveloped for far too long.”
Through her advocacy, Sandy changed the lives of many formerly incarcerated people.
Sandy kept her cancer diagnosis a secret to the end. Her wish for a private funeral only for family only was granted. She joins her beloved husband, Kenneth in Heaven, and leaves her many colleagues and friends across the world to mourn her death.
Reentry Central will continue without Sandy at the helm. She taught us well. We will continue to honor her with our work.
|
|
|
|
