Mission
To provide mentors to people coming out of incarceration. We deliver education, structure, and support for these relationships.
Vision
To see increased growth and freedom for clients and faith communities.
We work with people whose life journey includes incarceration and the desire to be restored to a full life. Our project helps them reenter life by engaging with mentors of their faith who will join their journey with compassion and action. We do this because we believe all people are innately valuable and that fundamentally we are all created in God's image.
While Art and Julie personally embrace a Christian heritage, N2LIFE Project is an interfaith effort encouraging people to have an authentic expression within their own faith tradition. As such, we incorporate mentors from all major faiths to serve emerging clients.
We fully respect and recognize that these faiths and their communities can play a significant part in the client's reentry success. N2LIFE Project does not proselytize and believes it is imperative that communities of faith work together to address the recidivism crisis. We simply hope to be a good neighbor.
We work with people whose life journey includes incarceration and the desire to be restored to a full life. Our project helps them reenter life by engaging with mentors of their faith who will join their journey with compassion and action. We do this because we believe all people are innately valuable and that fundamentally we are all created in God's image.
While Art and Julie personally embrace a Christian heritage, N2LIFE Project is an interfaith effort encouraging people to have an authentic expression within their own faith tradition. As such, we incorporate mentors from all major faiths to serve emerging clients.
We fully respect and recognize that these faiths and their communities can play a significant part in the client's reentry success. N2LIFE Project does not proselytize and believes it is imperative that communities of faith work together to address the recidivism crisis. We simply hope to be a good neighbor.
The Challenge
- The U.S. has the highest per capita rate of incarceration in the developed world. One in 100 is incarcerated as of 2008, the overcrowded population exceeded 2.4 million as of 2011.
- More African Americans are under correctional control today than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the civil war began. The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander
- The impact on society is negative. 97% of the prison population are men. Their children grow up without fathers. According to the Administration for Children and Families, Fathers have a direct impact on a child’s cognitive ability, educational achievement, psychological well-being, and social behavior.
- Prison is expensive. Combining cost to house prisoners and lost productivity, the estimated annual impact of prison population is $126.5 billion.
Our Response
- Prospective clients who demonstrate a verifiable will to learn are candidates for N2LIFE Project.
- We educate the community and emphasize our desire to transcend the usual labels associated with our client population. N2LIFE Project is a community project and is separate from the Department of Corrections, nevertheless we do hold a high value for collaboration.
- N2LIFE Project responds to these challenges by recruiting from multiple faith traditions and community organizations; training, coordinating, and supporting mentors to walk alongside the clients.
- We provide a curriculum that serves as mutual ground for the client and mentor to launch their relationship from. The materials are relevant for all involved.
- We provide a community of support with other clients after release.
