GIVING WOMEN A SAFE PLACE TO RESTART
SPECTRUM NEWS - COLUMBUS, OHIO | AUGUST 5, 2021
Building Bridges for Opportunity
Community Experience
October 12, 2022
Executive Director, Angie Regan joins Religious Services Administrator Mike Davis and Chaplain LeeAnn Pardon from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to discuss the importance of faith-based organizations for returning citizens.
Ohio women credit second chance education and support for successful reentry to society
BOB SANDRICK | JULY 28, 2021
Angela Regan is a miracle disguised by time. It took decades for her to overcome addictions to alcohol and crack cocaine, then metamorphosize into a scholar and leader of women looking for a second chance after prison.
A spiritual experience was the catalyst. Regan, born in Byesville, about 60 miles east of Columbus, but raised in North Carolina, became a Christian in the early 2000s. It was an act of despondency, but it changed her life. Read more
Angela Regan (standing) at Welcome Home SIS fundraiser with guests (from left) Emily Vigue from the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, Lana Perry from Perry insurance, Toni Keller from Newsight Life, Darlene Knight, and Gail Workman from Modern Woodmen of America.
Welcome Home SIS: More women eligible for housing, reentry program
DAILY JEFFERSONIAN - STAFF REPORT | JULY 23, 2021
Guernsey County, Ohio - Policies changes within Welcome Home SIS will allow any female impacted by the criminal justice system eligible for their income-based transitional housing and reentry program.
Previously the organization was specific to women returning from one of Ohio's three state prisons. Eligibility has now been expanded to not only include women being released from county jails but any female who has been incarcerated within the last year. They would also look at situations where incarceration occurred more than a year prior if the applicant is still having difficulties gaining independence and adjusting due to a criminal record, Angela Regan, executive director, said in a press release.
The Welcome Home SIS SAFE House is the first and only one of its kind in the state. The transitional housing and reentry program serves as a replication site and is an authorized member of the nationwide network of SAFE Houses.
“System-impacted women face significant barriers to building stable and healthy lives when they return to their communities,” Regan said. “We realize these obstacles may hinder a successful reentry for years after being incarcerated. Not only can she be excluded from housing, but also job opportunities are scarce for one with a criminal record. We help navigate these barriers to ensure she not only becomes self-sufficient, but also a productive, law-abiding member of society.”
Participants in the program pay a percentage of their income towards rent. It is also requested that new residents pay a small deposit which is refundable. However, no one is denied services due to their inability to pay.
Welcome Home SIS started to consider women in the county jails because many courts have shifted sentencing to a county level where defendants may do some or all of their time in the county jail.
Inmates in county jails do not have access to caseworkers who assist with a reentry plan before release as they do in prison. Even though many women cycle repeatedly in and out of jail, they are never afforded any resources.
Being released with little or no resources leaves many with no hope and puts them at risk of reoffending. Welcome Home SIS acts as a safety net, providing resources, all while reducing recidivism and keeping the community safe.
Regan says that most often, housing is the most immediate need of women in reentry. “We recognize that this alone cannot serve as the remedy for women transitioning back into their communities. As a result, we are committed to ensuring that women are supported in addressing all of their needs, to restore dignity and hope while further ensuring their sustainability.”
In-house resources and services for women include basic needs such as clothing, food, and hygiene products, assistance obtaining birth certificates, identification, and Social Security cards. The program also provides career development, counseling, and case management, social and community events and legal support/advocacy for family reunification, and record expungement.
Interested applicants should write a letter of interest stating their needs, circumstances, and goals. Letters may be emailed to info@welcomehomesis.org, or mailed to P.O. Box 125 Byesville, Ohio 43723. For more information visit https://www.welcomehomesis.org/ or call 740-327-3129 for general questions. Full Article
Media
Welcome Home SIS featured on new Cause Connector giving site
STAFF REPORT | FEBRUARY 10, 2021
Guernsey County, Ohio – Welcome Home SIS is among the first organizations to be featured on the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s new Cause Connector giving site.
Cause Connector is a charitable matchmaking site, created to help more donors support local nonprofit projects in Appalachian Ohio. On Cause Connector, donors can easily search for projects serving their local community across the areas of arts and culture, community and economic development, education, environmental stewardship, and health and human services.
Welcome Home SIS is partnering with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s Cause Connector to launch the “Get Fresh” project for system impacted women residing in their safehouse, located in Guernsey County. Welcome Home SIS is a Christ-centered housing and reentry program in Guernsey County. A 501 (c)(3) public charity, the organization is a member of the SAFE housing network providing services to formerly incarcerated women and their families who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. For more information about Welcome Home SIS, visit https://www.welcomehomesis.org/. The new gardening project which will also serve as an income-generating social enterprise has an overarching goal of connecting formerly incarcerated women to nature by teaching them the skills needed to start, cultivate, and steward an onsite garden at the Welcome Home SIS safehouse.
The intended impact of Welcome Home SIS’ gardening program is to provide women in reentry with connections to nature by cultivating and harvesting produce and herbs in an on-site garden; and to give formerly incarcerated women the skills, opportunity, and access to training and resources necessary to launching and sustaining a business.
Both of these intended impacts are essential as it exposes a population of women that are typically excluded from opportunities to connect with nature and the autonomy of starting and running their own businesses. Through the development of this garden, women will gain critical skills for sustaining themselves, preparing them to be more equipped for securing their future stability as they’re able to learn to grow and cultivate their own food.
While Welcome Home SIS seeks to have the greatest impact on the women they serve, the community will also benefit from access to fresh produce and jams, jellies, and preserves grown right in their community.
In addition to starting a garden, the women will receive training in food safety and handling to launch a social enterprise through which they learn the process of canning and producing jams, jellies, and preserves from the produce they have grown and harvested. Women will be provided with access to the ServSafe training and other required training and resources in alignment and as required by the State of Ohio’s cottage laws in order to sell their products to the local community.
Moreover, as the women engage in the garden and take ownership of the social enterprise aspect of the program, this will further contribute to improving public safety and reducing recidivism among system-impacted women.
“Although there are many opportunities available throughout Guernsey County for residents to connect with nature, people with experiences of incarceration rarely access it because of their past traumatic experiences of abuse, violence, and substance use,” said Angela Regan, Founder and Director of Welcome Home SIS. “With the launch of this program, women who would otherwise not access their natural environment, would be able to connect with nature right in their communities, while learning valuable life skills.”
Should Welcome Home SIS receive funding on the site, they will be able to provide system impacted survivors with connections to nature by cultivating and harvesting produce and herbs in an on-site garden; and also give formerly incarcerated women the skills, opportunity, and access to training and resources necessary to launching and sustaining a business.
Those who would like to play a part in supporting this work can visit https://causeconnector.org/project/safe-house-garden/ to make a gift.
Through Cause Connector, donors’ gifts will combine to fund projects across the region while also making investments in future initiatives.
Our region of Appalachian Ohio has access to fewer grant and scholarship dollars per capita. This “philanthropy gap” means the region’s nonprofits, schools, community organizations, and students have less support to meet pressing needs and pursue opportunities that can make a tremendous difference.
Cause Connector is focused on addressing the philanthropy gap by helping donors find projects that need their support today while also investing in the future of our communities. A portion of each gift given goes to FAO’s I’m a Child of Appalachia® Fund to support future projects.
“We created Cause Connector to connect donors who want to make a difference with investment-ready projects in our local communities,” said Cara Dingus Brook, FAO’s president and CEO. “Our region is full of leaders with innovative solutions and ideas for helping others, and Cause Connector is a new technology designed to support their success.”
Welcome Home SIS is one of the first organizations selected to have a project featured on the new Cause Connector site. Projects have until April 9 to receive funding and make their projects possible. Gifts of all sizes are welcome at https://causeconnector.org/project/safe-house-garden/
About Welcome Home SIS
Welcome Home SIS is a Christ-centered housing and reentry program in Guernsey County. A 501 (c)(3) public charity, the organization is a member of the SAFE housing network providing services to women and their families who have been impacted by the criminal justice system in Ohio and West Virginia. For more information about Welcome Home SIS, visit https://www.welcomehomesis.org/
About the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) is a regional community foundation serving the 32 counties of Appalachian Ohio. A 501(c)(3) public charity, the Foundation creates opportunities for Appalachian Ohio’s citizens and communities by inspiring and supporting philanthropy. For more information about FAO, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org.
A helping hand, not a handout: Ohio offers resources for offenders returning to their communities
JIM DEBROSSE | MAY 19, 2020
“Returning women often are released from prison with less support than returning men,” says Angela Regan, founder of Welcome Home, SIS, a transitional home for women in Byesville, Ohio.
“When men leave prison, the women they leave behind often stay by them,” so they have a place to return to, according to Regan. “When women go to prison, the men are not as likely to wait around and their families are destroyed. They don’t have anywhere to go.”
Returning women also have greater addiction and mental health needs, Regan says. Half of all women prisoners, many who have suffered sexual abuse and trauma, require mental health care compared to 17 % of men in prison.
Regan hopes to open a second transitional home for returning women.
“Sometimes all people need is just a little support,” she says. It’s about giving them a hand up, not a handout. Read full article
Angela Regan Founds Women’s Prison Reentry Program
OHIO UNIVERSITY - ARTS & SCIENCES FORUM | JANUARY 27, 2020
Ohio University alumna Angela Regan’s long-time interest in law and how it disproportionately affects certain socioeconomic classes and races drew her to the M.A. in Law, Justice & Culture Graduate Program.
Her interests often take her beyond the classroom, and she recently added creating a prison reentry program for women in Ohio to her extracurricular list of activities.
Regan is a third-year graduate student, pursuing master’s degrees in both Sociology and Law, Justice, and Culture at Ohio University. She earned an associate’s degree in 2016 and two bachelor's degrees, a double major in Psychology and Sociology-Criminology from Ohio University in 2017. Read full article
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