The Fortune Society is considered to be a national leader in the field. Here are just a few of the reasons why:
“The Fortune Society’s re-entry service model is of interest to service providers involved in re-entry programming for ex-offenders, researchers and policymakers interested in key components of successfully transitioning ex-offenders from prison to society and State and local governments looking to reduce correctional budgets…”– National Institute of Justice
The Fortune Society was the 2005 recipient of the American Society of Criminology’s President’s Award for “Distinguished Contributions to the Cause of Justice.”
Fortune’s innovative HIV programs have been recognized nationally for their quality of service, and funded on seven occasions by the U.S. Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as “Special Projects of National Significance” (SPNS). Of particular note among these funded programs is the Latino Discharge Planning (LDP) project, an ambitious five-year project spanning 1994-1999 that served incarcerated Latino individuals and releasees who were HIV-positive and symptomatic.
The U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment featured Fortune as a model program in their Treatment Improvement Protocols #30.
As a model supportive housing program in the criminal justice field, the Fortune Academy (aka the “Castle”), has received the following awards and accolades:
- Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award by the NY Landmarks Conservancy for the preservation of the building now known as the Fortune Academy.
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Re-Entry Initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice have both profiled the Fortune Academy as a model program.
- The Urban Institute featured the Fortune Academy as a national model re-entry program.
- AIDS Housing of Washington cited the Fortune Academy in their report, “From Locked Up to Locked Out: Creating and Implementing Post-Release Housing for Ex-Prisoners.”
- New York University’s Stern School of Business recently used the Fortune Academy as a case study on developing low-income housing in New York City.