The first 72 hours after release are critical for both the reentering citizen and community safety. It’s an intersection in time during which a person takes the high road to successful reintegration or the low road back to prison.
Reentry is challenging. The bus ride back home is full of temptation and so are the streets. To reduce the stress of release and temptation along the way, a Project 180 representative will pick up our new client at the prison gate if the prison is within three hours of Sarasota. Otherwise, we’ll meet him or her at the local bus station to provide a warm welcome back home.
The first stop of the day is mandatory registration at the jail, then Probation if required. Over the next few days, our funding partners—Community Foundation of Sarasota County through its Equity & Access grant, Koski Family Foundation, an anonymous donor, and hundreds of donors like you—make it possible for us to purchase food, clothing, work clothes and boots, basic tools to get started at work, a phone, and funding for the first two weeks of housing. We drive clients to their new program home, help them obtain essential documents and get to job interviews on time, using ‘windshield time’ to get to know each person’s background, goals, and dreams.