“In early 2007, after serving 32 years of a 25-to-life sentence, I was paroled to a freedom for which I was ill-prepared. Both my wife and my mother had passed away during my lengthy incarceration, and I was essentially homeless upon release. I was also 72 years old and unemployed. Sometimes I was so overwhelmed by the prospect of overcoming these obstacles that – for a fleeting minute – I wished I was back inside.” –Larry W., former client & current Community and Policymaker Liaison for The Fortune Society

Disoriented and disconnected from their communities, formerly incarcerated individuals coming out of prison or jail are often unaware of the resources that exist to help them successfully reintegrate into society.  We believe – and research has shown – that without immediate help in the form of supportive housing, these individuals are at risk of returning to jail or prison within the first month after release.  Access to a living environment that promotes safe and sober socialization, as well as to critical services such as education and employment services, can make all the difference during this difficult transition.

• At any given time about 800 parolees are in the NYC shelter system (Caterina Gouvis Roman and Jeremy Travis, Taking Stock: Housing, Homelessness, and Prisoner Reentry, The Urban Institute, 2004).
• Up to 20% of people released from NYC jails are homeless or have unstable housing (Nino Rodriguez and Brenner Brown, Preventing Homelessness Among People Leaving Prison, Vera Institute of Justice, 2003).
• 30% of homeless shelter entrants have been in the custody of the NYC Department of Correction (New York City Department of Correction and New York City Department of Homeless Services Data Match, 2003).
• At least 11% of people released from NYS prisons enter homeless shelters within two years, more than half of those within a month after release (Nino Rodriguez and Brenner Brown, Preventing Homelessness Among People Leaving Prison, Vera Institute of Justice, 2003).
• A Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) study found that, among state prisoners expected to be released to the community by the end of 1999, 12% reported being homeless at time of arrest (The Urban Institute, 2004).