Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Reentry Housing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Local reentry group outlines prison pre-release program and plans 44-unit transitional apartments
Summary
Freedom Life described a pre-release-to-community continuum and said it expects to break ground in March on a 44-unit transitional apartment complex; commissioners approved a related grading contract paid by a CDBG award.
Danny (Freedom Life) told the Board of Commissioners the nonprofit’s reentry work now spans pre-release in correctional facilities through community transitional housing and long-term support.
Danny said the organization is operating an 18‑month pre-release program for people in prison who are within 18 months of release and that, after release, participants enter additional community-based support. “We will be able to work with an individual for over 3 years intensely in helping them begin to learn how to rebuild their lives,” Danny said.
He said the group has served more than 7,000 people in jail and prison programs since its start, and more than 4,000 post-release in the community. Danny said Freedom Life’s current development plans include a 44-unit, program-based apartment complex intended to provide stage‑2 transitional housing. He said the project is intended to be income- or incentive-based, include on-site case management, random drug testing and inspections, and aim to move residents toward stable, market housing by teaching money-management and employment skills.
Danny told commissioners the project has cleared federal environmental reviews and he expects to break ground in March. He also described an earlier stage‑1 “life stabilization” model—three houses serving up to 12 people at a time—plus plans for a future 20‑bed stage‑1 facility if additional grant funding is secured.
Commissioners voted to accept the low bid for associated grading work under a Community Development Block Grant. The board recorded GM Constructors of McDowell as the low responsive bidder for grading at $114,771.80 and approved the award; the county stated the CDBG will pay grading costs. The motion to award the low bid passed by voice vote with no roll-call tally recorded.
Ending: Freedom Life asked for continued partnership with county and regional agencies as it seeks grant funding and plans a phased expansion of housing and reentry services.
