Word of Hope Ministries Inc., Wisconsin’s largest faith-based provider of re-entry services for former prisoners, is launching a new program aimed at better preparing inmates to get and keep jobs on the outside. The three-year program is being funded with a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The Home 2 Stay program will provide job training and mentoring for inmates at Milwaukee’s House of Correction and a federal facility while they’re still incarcerated, and then blanket them with services, from mentoring to health care and more, once they’re out. “The goal is to reach them while they’re still incarcerated,” said Bishop C.H. McClelland, pastor of Holy Cathedral Church of God and Christ and president of Word of Hope. “We want to develop a relationship with them so when they come out, they’re trained and connected with employers who are willing to hire them.” Word of Hope is part of $30 million distributed by the Labor Department for prisoner re-entry.