April 28 Meeting: Building Stronger Communities

Click here to listen.

Kat Brady is Coordinator of the Community Alliance on Prisons, a community initiative working on developing effective interventions for Hawaii’s offenders and to improve the quality of justice in Hawaii.

Program notes:

“How do we want people to return home after incarceration,” Kat Brady, Coordinator of Community Alliance on Prisons asked at last month’s Kokua Council meeting.

Ninety-seven percent of incarcerated individuals will be released someday. But prisons are dangerous places that create violence and drug use. The data show that there are three elements necessary for successful reentry: 1) strong positive relationships; 2) meaningful work; and 3) a safe place to live. The 2007 Community Safety Act (Hawaii’s Reentry Law) lays this important foundation. Sadly, Governor Lingle has not released one dime of the funding to implement this policy to date.

What can the community do to help those coming home? 1) create a welcoming environment for those who have paid their debt to society; 2) forgive people their trespasses and bring them into the fold as contributing community members; and 3) become a mentor to someone.

Your experience and aloha will make all the difference to that individual and to the entire community. Contact Kat Brady at: (808) 533-3454 or communityallianceonprisons@hotmail.com

    Kokua Council member Psychologist Diane Stowell who leads a re-entry  group for prisoners stated: “It is the most satisfying experience I have ever had to  see the changes as we go along.”