|
|
Lowcountry Civic Justice Corps Graduates Third Class
06/20/2008
Lowcountry Civic Justice Corps Summer 2008 Graduates
LOWCOUNTRY CIVIC JUSTICE CORPS GRADUATES THIRD CLASS FRIDAY
Unique program to bring ex-offenders back into the community, the LCJC will graduate its third class on Friday at Sterrett Hall at the Navy Yard
North Charleston, SC (June 19, 2008) – The Lowcountry Civic Justice Corps will herald its third graduating class on Friday, June 20, at a ceremony that will be held from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at the Sterrett Hall Auditorium at the former Charleston Naval Base, Building 180, located at 1530 7th Street and North Hobson Avenue in North Charleston. Henry Darby, a Charleston County councilman, will be the keynote speaker.
The LCJC is a program of the Noisette Foundation, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, designed to return ex-offenders to the local community with viable job skills, and improve their educational levels, motivation and accountability in
re-entering society after incarceration is complete. In the spring 2008 class, 12 graduates will receive certificates of completion from the Noisette Foundation.
“The intention of the Lowcountry Civic Justice Corps is to assist the South Carolina Department of Corrections and local authorities with improving the job skills of ex-offenders,” says David Snyder, of the Noisette Foundation. “The program strives to improve the ex-offenders’ status, by reinforcing the principles of hard work, team efforts, and achieving goals and objectives.”
On June 11, the LCJC celebrated the ribbon cutting for the Breschers’ home in North Charleston, in which a house destroyed by an electrical fire was completely rebuilt as a “green” home with the labor of Civic Justice Corps members.
The South Carolina Department of Corrections provides logistical support, as well as serving as a formal and direct partner of the LCJC. The program was selected as a national pilot site by the Corporation for National Community Service, which has received a number of accolades for achieving results in the area of prisoner re-entry programs.
“The Department of Corrections has been a great help to the Foundation, in that they provide transportation and logistical support, and help whittle the applications
to the LCJC program down to 12,” adds Snyder. “We are overwhelmed each year, and the Department picks the best ex-offenders suited to this program.”
The program also strives to produce results in the overall goals of the City of North Charleston’s Social Justice Priorities, seeking to reduce crime and re-incarceration in the community; increase home ownership and livability of existing housing stock; increasing training opportunities for unemployed and underemployed people in workforce development; and, improve coordination among justice agencies.
US Department of Justice statistics indicate that 67.5 per cent of all prisoners will be re-arrested within three years. A PEW Center Report indicates that one in every 100 US citizens are incarcerated – the report also stated that one in every nine black males between the ages of 20 and 34 are incarcerated.
In South Carolina, the SC Department of Corrections statistics indicate that the direct costs to incarcerate are currently at, or above, $30,000 to taxpayers.
“Certainly, it is our mission to reverse, and abate, those startling numbers,” concludes Snyder. “Behind the statistics are real people and their families, and our entire society pays the cost of crime.”
|
Back
|
