Community West Foundation Hosts City Club of Cleveland Reintegration Forum

Thank you to the 100 attendees who joined the Community West Foundation at The City Club of Cleveland for a conversation to understand the barriers that formerly incarcerated people face.

Marcus Madison of Community West Foundation, Brandon E. Chrostowski of Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute, Malika Kidd of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, and Michael Swiger of True Freedom Ministries Cleveland led this important discussion.

Community conversations like this one are part of the foundation’s educational efforts to create safe spaces to listen, learn and grow together.

The topic: to understand the barriers that formerly incarcerated people face. Attendees also heard solutions CWF grantees are developing to help this population. The event featured a special presentation on how The City Club of Cleveland and Lutheran Metropolitan Ministries have partnered to provide community meals and work experience for those transitioning from incarceration.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, at any one time, nearly 6.9 million people are on probation, in jail, in prison, or on parole in the United States. More than 600,000 individuals are released from state and federal prisons each year. Another 9 million cycle through local jails. More than two-thirds of prisoners are rearrested within 3 years of their release and half are reincarcerated. When reentry fails, the costs are high — more crime, more victims, and more pressure on already-strained state and municipal budgets. There is also more family distress and community instability.