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The church-based organization wants to help people incarcerated successfully re-enter the community
YOUNGSTOWN
Eliminating institutional racism; “Rebuilding the Future,” a program to help people returning to the community from incarceration; and removing the “food desert” label from Youngstown were primary topics discussed at the annual recommitment service of the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods.
The event took place Sunday at New Bethel Baptist Church on Hillman Street.
“We have to work with the community, elected officials and businesses to help people coming back from incarceration with their rehabilitation,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Stanford, pastor of Beulah Baptist Church and ACTION clergy chairman.
“It’s human decency. Someone made a mistake. They can be rehabilitated, but part of that is a place to live and a job,” the Rev. Mr. Stanford said.
Several groups are helping people assimilate with the community after incarceration.
Among them are the Home For Good Re-Entry Resource Referral Center, affiliated with ACTION, whose coordinator, Lola Simons, said too many don’t have sustainable income. “We have to develop a strategy with providers to get housing for these people,” she said.
Speaker Perry Clark of Akron said he is bringing his Truly Reaching You Ministries to Youngstown, through which he offers jobs in commercial lawn care, home remodeling and commercial cleaning to residents returning from incarceration, along with helping them establish habits of professionalism.
Monica Craven, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Mahoning Valley, said her organization believes that everyone deserves a chance to have a home, and its goal is to make that possible for many of them.
Youngstown is a so-called “food desert,” defined as an area where nutritious food such as fresh fruit and vegetables and meats are difficult to obtain because of availability, affordability and distance.
In Youngstown proper, there is no full-service grocery store, and many people don’t have transportation or easy access to supermarkets, which Mr. Stanford believes is a contributing factor in Mahoning County’s having one of the highest black-infant mortality rates in Ohio.
“Institutional racism must end,” said Dr. Anne York Romanoff, chairwoman of ACTION’s racism committee, who took aim at what she called “predatory lending. We can no longer allow people to make money off those less fortunate. Our legislators must put an end to the practice,” she said.
While racism still exists in 2017, there is a path for improved relations between the races, Mr. Stanford said.
“People need to get to know each other one-on-one and denominationally,” he said.