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Every day, more than 1, 935 inmates are released from America’s prisons. Most of the men and women released from prison are unprepared for life on the street. We as members of society must take on the responsibility to assist these individuals to re-enter society. After all, the number of offenders being released from prison each day will only increase.
Even those men and women who are released to a halfway house may not leave there with all the skills needed to become productive members of society. Government guidelines do not allow sufficient time for the residents of halfway houses to get their lives in order on their own. Therefore, they need assistance, training, guidance, and a relationship with God.
Riverside House offers a winning combination of counseling, teaching, vocational, and pastoral care services. By assisting with job placement, daily accountability, and community-church partnership support, our residents are provided the basic tools they need to become caring members of their community. Also, by offering a guiding hand through our Pastoral Care Program, the greatest opportunity for meaningful, caring integration back into society is available. Therefore, the success rate of faith-based residential re-entry programs like Riverside House is remarkably higher than that of the standard halfway house model.
The government and faith-based organizations need to continue to work together to make a difference. By Riverside House offering its voluntary Pastoral Care program within its residential program to the residents, a chance to save a lost soul, make our community stronger, safer, and better is given.
“I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your home, naked and you clothed me, in prison and you visited me…whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.”
Matthew 25:40
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