A second chance at Curt's Cafe

from the article by Susan Du in The Daily Northwestern:

Curt’s Cafe, 2922 Central St., is an unlikely crossroads for the two: Trieschmann hires at-risk young adults, particularly those with criminal records, providing them with hard-to-find job training and work experience. The non-profit restaurant is one of the only adult ex-offender re-entry programs in a city that focuses most of its re-entry resources on at-risk youths.

Trieschmann said the road to opening the experimental business was far from smooth, with some neighbors concerned about the business drawing former criminals to Central Street. Still, it’s an experiment that restorative justice advocates and even Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl said is worth a shot.

Jun 05, 2012 Offender, Reentry, Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Prison, Country:USA, Restitution

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Missouri prisons grow 50 tons of food for pantries

from the article on stltoday.com:

Missouri prisoners have raised more than 50 tons of vegetables and fruit that have been given to food pantries around the state.

The Department of Corrections says this year's harvest was significantly higher than last year's, when the agency donated 29 tons of produce through its Restorative Justice Garden Program.
Under the program, the seeds and plants are donated to the Corrections Department, which then donates all the resulting food to local pantries.

Nov 07, 2011 Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Prison, Country:USA, Restitution

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What were they thinking? Horse farms and inmates?

from the blog entry by Peter Hermann on BaltimoreSun.com:

It was one of those feel-good programs that come across reporters' desks nearly every day. This was from the state prison system: "Restorative Justice Benefits Women Inmates and Starving Horses."

Here's what the news release said:

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services today added yet another to its growing list of unique restorative justice inmate initiatives, putting a work crew comprised of female inmates at Howard County’s Days End Farm Horse Rescue. The inmates, from the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCI-W) in Jessup, will begin with grounds maintenance and landscaping, and eventually move into equine care. “What we try to do with these restorative justice programs is not only give inmates skills and the chance to pay back the society they’ve harmed, but meaningful projects that really do make a difference in the lives of people -- and in this case, horses,” said DPSCS Secretary Gary Maynard.

Only state prison officials forgot to tell the neighbors of the horse farm, as well as the young volunteers who work there. Now, state officials have shut down the program, according to a story by The Baltimore Sun's Larry Carson.

Jul 23, 2010 Community, Region: North America and Caribbean, Prison, Country:USA, Restitution

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