In August of 2011 Reentry Central posted an article about New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg putting his money where his heart is and investing $30 million of his own money to provide young men of color opportunities that will lead them to higher education and employment rather than to prison. New York City’s Young Men’s Initiative was created by Bloomberg with the help of like- minded private and public organizations. The article reported that George Soros of the Open Society Foundation matched Bloomberg’s donation, and that the city of New York would put up the remainder of the $143 million project. click here to go to website
One year later, the Young Men’s Initiative released its first annual report that shows the major strides that have been made to mentor, educate, provide job training, help find employment for, and improve the health care of, the targeted population of young New York blacks and Latinos. YMI intends to spend $43 million a year on these types of programs. The racial disparity in New York state’s prisons can be traced, in large part, to lack of opportunities for young men of color in the city’s low-income neighborhood. Bloomberg, Soros, the City of New York, and the experts on YMI’s advisory board have pulled together a unique project that is expected to lower the recidivism rate, but more importantly, keep young men from criminal justice system involved in the first place.
Source: Fortune Society
|
