Reentry Fair Held At Women's Therapeutic Residential Center

HENNING – Yesterday, nine vendors from across West Tennessee came to the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center (WTRC); which is housed at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary, to offer resources and tools to approximately 130 residents.  These residents have 18 months or less left on their sentence and are getting ready for a life outside of the institution.
 
Joy Pitts, WTRC Reentry Specialist and Career Development Counselor, said the vendors at the fair were there to help residents learn about the reentry services offered in the community.  “The purpose of this fair is to ensure they have proper tools and resources to return to society and be successful in their communities,” said Pitts. “Making sure they have these tools also helps them not recidivate.” 
 
Pitts added, “The residents can talk to vendors to help them get information about how to get their identification, jobs, continuing their education or child support information.  We have these twice a year and we also have quarterly visits from other vendors who do presentations about their services to help keep the residents informed. We want to make sure they know what kind of resources they have.” 
 
The vendors who attended the event were Seedco, Children and Family Services of Tipton County, University of Tennessee Martin – Ripley, Madison County Day Reporting and Community Resource Center, Shelby County Day Reporting and Community Resource Center, Project Return, Tennessee College of Applied Technology Ripley, and the Mobile American Job Center.  If you would like to learn more about reentry and providing workforce opportunities for justice-involved individuals, please join the department at the Re-entry/Workforce Development Symposium on June 11th.  You can find out more information and register for the FREE event here: https://www.memphis.edu/psi/register/.