Source: CBS 17
A North Carolina-based nonprofit has opened up a hotline to assist people who have had past convictions to find employment. According to the organization’s website, Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs Services (RREPS) is a nonprofit that aims to “address systemic injustices and unconscious biases within the judicial system with direct and/or indirect methods.”
The new hotline offers individuals recently released from prison information and referrals to various resources that assist in their transition back into the community. Formerly incarcerated people face many difficulties once they’re released such as obtaining employment, housing, and proper identification.
The organization’s Executive Director Kerwin Pittman has faced many of the same difficulties his organization seeks to address. “Re-entry was really hard for me, and if this hotline would have been available when I came home, it would have put me on the right track,” said Pittman.
The hotline, which covers all 100 counties in North Carolina, doesn’t deal only with employment. The hotline covers assistance in areas such as education, essential needs, healthcare, housing, legal, religious services, safety and security, as well as support systems.
“It is amazing to connect an individual coming home with resources they need, such as a job, immediately. We know this can guide them to a trusted source to make a difference,” said Pittman.
In addition to the hotline, the service has been made available on tablets in North Carolina prisons so people who are still incarcerated may use the services to plan their reentry into society. You reach the hotline at 1-888-852-0004 and can learn more about the service and the resources offered on the RREPS hotline webpage.
