On Wednesday, Oct. 11, ReNforce celebrate the grand opening of its first Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) home, which will welcome up to eight women returning to the Augusta community following incarceration.
ReNforce is a member of the SAFE Housing Network – an international collective of 31 organizations that are dedicated to offering reentry services to formerly incarcerated women.
As stated within a press release from A New Way of Life, the SAFE Housing Network is a project of A New Way of Life Reentry Project, which promotes healing, power and opportunity for formerly incarcerated people by taking a multifaceted approach to mitigating the effects of mass incarceration in the hopes of ultimately eliminating them.
“Providing support to women transitioning out of incarceration is critical to their success and to preventing recidivism,” said Founder of ReNforce Charlotte Garnes. “We are committed to providing the crucial resources and services necessary to help these women rebuild their lives, contribute to our communities, and return to their families for good.”
Every year, almost two million women are released from jails and prisons facing countless barriers to reentry, stated a press release from ReNforce.
“Lack of access to housing is a primary driver of recidivism, and every year almost two million women are released from jails and prisons,” the release also stated. “They face countless barriers to successful reentry … while recidivism rates across the country hover around 65%, there is a recidivism rate of just 6% among residents of A New Way Of Life’s homes.”
Since opening its first homes in 2019, the SAFE Housing Network, in partnership with A New Way of Life, has housed over 700 formerly incarcerated citizens, and has also provided other reentry services to another nearly 12,000. The SAFE Housing Network relies on the reentry housing model employed by A New Way of Life.
According to a press release from ReNforce, the SAFE Housing Network is working to decarcerate people within the U.S. by helping them “heal from the trauma of incarceration and empowering them to lead in the fight to end mass incarceration.”
“The proper resources, such as housing and community, are vital for setting women up for success following incarceration,” said Co-Director of A New Way of Life Pamela Marshall. “We are thrilled that the women of Augusta, Georgia will have access to the wonderful home and community that ReNForce provides.”
For safety reasons details of the whereabouts of the home will not be released.
For more information about the project and other services offered by A New Way of Life, please visit: anewwayoflife.org
