| Redeem-Her House is a year old! |
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Greetings!
On April 1st, the Redeem-Her House in Roebling, NJ celebrated one year of providing a safe, sober, supportive living environment for women leaving prison in New Jersey. The opening of the Redeem-Her House revolutionized our ability to help women reentering society after incarceration. Before, we could provide clothing, help with jobs, offer moral support and give rides, but ultimately, if a woman didn't have a home to go to at the end of the night, the help we were giving didn't amount to much.
Fourteen women passed through our doors last year. The majority of them were state inmates allowed to serve out their sentences in our home under the strict watch of the Intensive Supervision Program. Redeem-Her House is unique in that it is (in theory, at least) self-supporting. In 2007, it cost Redeem-Her only $2382.85 to house one woman for one year. This compares to the $36,000+ annually that it would have cost the Department of Corrections to keep these same women in prison!!! We envision the day (very soon!) when the house in Roebling will be completely self-sufficient, but until that day it is the generous contributions of all of our supporters that keep the doors open. |
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So many did so much to get us off the ground this first year, more than my frazzled brain can always remember, but here are some that come to mind:
Thank you, first, to the Intensive Supervision Program. From your judges to your supervisors to your officers to your secretaries - you believe in us! You always treat us with respect. You see us, not as felons and former addicts, but as women with the experience to help other women leaving prison.
A corrections officer is beat in the prison and left for dead. Years later, she gives her house to former inmates to house current inmates. Angels DO live on earth ... Paula, surely you are one of them.
Marcell DelCorpo, our beloved "House Mammie". How many miles did you put on your car last year, 40,000?
The women of the First United Methodist Church of Toms River ... God had big plans for that Spa Day fundraiser and none of us knew. You got us off the ground. We'll never forget.
To the Church of Grace and Peace for providing our furnishings - God never closes one door without opening another. Who knew that in this case it would be so literal?
Pat Foley, our UU friends in Ocean County, Zonta, Prudy and Richard, Robin's mom and so many others - our house is brimming with love from the household items you donated.
Jon, Sharon, Bryan and Victor - the man (and woman) power behind the move - how many captain's beds did you move up that narrow stairway?
Jon Christiansen and Eric Summers - is there anything left in the house that you guys haven't fixed? You're heroes!
To the Administrator of Florence Township - Thank you so much for trying to get three verifiably drug and alcohol free, employed women out of your town. You gave us the opportunity to prove that not only are we allowed by law to do what we are doing, but that you even have to make "reasonable accommodations" to help us do it ... boy, was that a fun fight!
Connie Pascale, Ingrid Johnson and Lynette Siragusa from Legal Services of New Jersey and James Katz from Spear Wilderman - free lawyers ... need we say more!
Da Boys Uv Summer 2007 from Grace Alliance Church in Burlington, NJ for the Extreme Backyard Makeover.
And to Maryrose, Sharon, Lisa and Dawn K - thanks for giving back.
And finally, to our stinky, old, oil-guzzling furnace that almost drove us to bankruptcy with its unbelievable thirst ... thanks for waiting until Spring to blow up!
Thank you!
Exec Director, Redeem-Her
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To date we have received 6 cars and and they have been used to provide over 215,000 miles of transportation to school, work, counseling, community service and court.
The way that our car donation program works is that the car remains in Redeem-Her's name. Recipients must be active participants in our OWAT (One Woman at a Time) reentry program. Redeem-Her pays insurance, maintenance and repairs (thanks to discounted repairs from Prospect Point Valero in Point Pleasant Beach). Recipients are only allowed to use vehicles for defined, agreed upon purposes - school, work, counseling, court. Mileage is checked. Recipients pay usage fee that simulates the cost of owning a car, but monies are deposited into a savings account in the name of the organization and recipient. After one year, the usage fees collected in this account are used for recipient to purchase her own used car with help from Prospect Point Valero in selecting a reliable one.
The basics of it is that you can't get a tax deduction for the full Kelly Blue Book value unless the charity uses the car (as we do) instead of just flipping it (as most charities do). Also, since we use the car, you can be assured that one hundred percent of your donation goes toward the cause (not just a small percentage, like with some of the auto donation middle men).
Won't you please consider donating your car today?
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