REVITALIZING ACTIVITIES
COMMUNITY COALITION BUILDING
The Freedom Institute values the strength found in the community. As the adage goes, "if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". It is our mission to impact generational change. However, we understand that the underlining problems that lead to poverty and incarceration are wide and deep. They are more than what we can solve ourselves. We play a role in the community and look to steward that role with the values of collaboration and cooperation.
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We host monthly gatherings with the leaders and organizations that serve individuals and families that have been affected by poverty and incarceration. If you are interested in our gatherings, would like to attend or present, please let us know.
Previously incarcerated men and women face many difficulties when returning to the community, and often the essential building blocks needed to create a new life are missing. The most crucial blocks are obtaining stable housing and employment. But this task can be difficult if a person has never acquired a skill or a trade.
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The Freedom Institute's Apprenticeship Program is an eight-week program designed for parole individuals who need stable housing and employment. The program teaches it's participants skills in painting, flooring, and basic home renovation skills. Apprentices also work towards completing a 16-part career development class and receive a weekly stipend and housing allowance.
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FREEDOM ENTERPRISES
WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?
Social enterprises are businesses that apply commercial strategies to improve parolees' well-being rather than create enterprises for the profit of stakeholders.
By offering parolees a place to work, we provide a place for them to learn soft skills, like administration and customer service and vocational skills. These jobs are often the first “legit” employment our clients have ever held, give our clients confidence and self-esteem while enabling them to provide for their families.
WHY SOCIAL ENTERPRISES?
The Freedom Institute exists to break the generational cycle of poverty and incarceration.
We accomplish our mission by helping individuals who have experienced long-term incarceration to reenter the workforce successfully. We help them gain the employment skills needed to sustain themselves and their families.
STAFFING & MANAGEMENT
EVENTS & RENTALS
THE FREEDOM FUND
The Freedom Institute's mission is to "Break the generational cycle of poverty and incarceration in forgotten communities.". One of our fundamental philosophies is to change systemic poverty and incarceration; we must move individuals from being bystanders to their communities' injustices to community owners who hold positions of power, influence, and decision-making.
To better understand our philosophy, remember the age-old proverb, "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you will feed him for a lifetime." Our question is, who owns the pond? If we focus on giving, we create a charity. If we focus on teaching, we create mercy. However, if we focus on ownership, we build the capacity for justice.
The Freedom Institute is dedicated to reducing the wealth disparity in forgotten communities by building the asset and ownership potential in individuals who have been affected by poverty and incarceration. We accomplish this objective by providing money and mentorship to individuals seeking to start a business.