RENEWED LIFE PROGRAM

Center of Grace began over thirty (30) years ago as a Ministry Program within St. Peter's Sounds of Praise Church in Paterson, NJ Church volunteers organized this Ministry in order to address the problems of women incarcerated in the Passaic County Jail and New Jersey State Prisons. They began by visiting

the inmates twice a month and served as liasons between the inmates, their families and social service providers.

Center of Grace volunteers also provided the women with care packages containing many of the items that are sold within the prison commissary store. They also provided suport services for families by soliciting contributions from local organizations, church members and the at-large community. These contributions consist of clothing, food and school supplies.

As a result of this Ministry, in 2001, Center of Grace, Director, Ms. Marie Ligon, formally organized the Center of Grace Renewed Life Program as a non-profit organization and obtained the 501(3)(c) tax exemption. Ms. Ligon began to expand the Center of Grace ((C0G) program and services to address the needs of incarcerated women who were released from prison, women who were displaced by divorce, abused or released from rehabilitation programs. COG also assists individuals, particularly women who

experienced a loss of income either because of unemployment, or dispcontinuatin of local, county, or federal benefits. They also provide support services to the families of these women, particularly their children who are greatly impacted by the negative changes in their family status.

COG Renewed Life Programn volunteers mentor the children and actively recruit new members from

other City of Paterson faith based and civic/fraternal organizations. Support services are also provided for extended family members who have custodial responsibility for the children of incarcerated or absent parents. The critical need is to assist with bridging the gap between families and the social/legal services providers and the local school district.

COG, which currently offers re-entry services that meet the needs of females, has been delivering the same or similar services to men as evident over this past year with 50 referrals for male ex-offrenders made to the program. This has resulted in a program that addresses the needs of both genders. In 2008, COG provided services to over 105 clients with a waiting list of over 50. An additional 100 clients will be assisted in 2009.

A sensitive case management component designed to recognize the specific needs based on gender will be available fro referrals to partners addressing the domains of education, mental health counseling, physical and reproductive health, career planning/exploration, job opportunities and housing. Additionally, the NJHelps.org assessment service is also used to assess eligibility for all NJ public assistance programs.

According to a Research Report (A Portrait of Prisoner re-entry) Published in November, 2002, the size of New Jersey's prison populatiho quadrupled for the period 1977 to 2002 considtent with the national trend. As the prison population has increased, those persons facing re-entry have also increased.
A growing numbr of those persons being released are women, as evidenced by a 1998 statistic showing 1,653 female inmates representing a ratio of 39 per 100,000 women. The total number of parolees in Passaic County was 695 in 2002, with the majority of those returing to the cities of Paterson and Passaic.

Of the total prison population in the State of New Jersey, Passaic County represents 13%. As of 2006, there were a total number of 2,294 inmates in NJ correction facilities (1,353) male, 57 female, 427 juveniles and 457 other: i.e., sex offenders), thus making Passaic County the third highest county in the state.

These individuals will be returning to to the communities in Passaic County. The Center of Grace,
Renewed Life Program statistics gathered over the past year has gleaned that women were the largest percentage of our population served with 60 women and 50 men refceiving varius services and referrals. The emergent priority area for the majority of our recfently relased is securing safe and decent housing to allow for a base and a sense of permanency and self-sufficiency, with the city of Paterson having the highest rate for residency issues.

COG RLP intends to rent a one- family house that will serve as a temporary residential space for seven (7) women. The request for funds from the City of Paterson Department of Community Development will used to cover housing costs, additional staff and personnel for both the residential space and the current operating space located at 175 Fair Street, Paterson.

Marie Ligon - Director

mgodfreyli@aol.com

973-356-220 - Paterson NJ

RENEWED LIFE PROGRAM

Paterson Great Falls