G.R.O.W. O.U.T. (Getting Results Outside the Walls)
GROW OUT stands for Getting Results Outside of the Walls. When our KinMates are released from prison, they face immediate challenges—finding a place to live, food, clothing, transportation, medical care, and job opportunities.
To help make this happen, upon release we assign every KinMate with a Transitional Coach. Coaches provide support until they are fully reintegrated into their communities. This includes finding housing, reconnecting with families, securing employment and having access to other supportive services.
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Some services are provided by our key partners. Impact Services, for example, helps provide KinMates with a free copy of their State ID, a crucial part of reintegrating into society and finding employment. This partnership ensures that women have a smoother transition by being able to enroll in government assistance programs and search for jobs upon release.
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Additionally, partnerships with employment agencies provide access to employment opportunities and job search support.
KinMates:
This word is not recognized in Webster’s Dictionary but is a nick name we use in the CHILL OUT Program to describe our program participants. It is derived from the word Kin, whose definition is as follows:
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Kin/kɪn/ (Noun):
1. A person's relatives collectively; kinfolk.
2. Family relationship or kinship.
3. A group of persons descended from a common ancestor or constituting a family, clan, tribe, or race.
4. A relative or kinsman.
5. Someone or something of the same or similar kind:
Our KinMates become our family the minute they walk through the door of our class room. They are treated with the love, admiration, respect, chastisement, affirmation and benevolence that we extend to our biological family. Many of our KinMates have broken relationships with family and friends which contribute to continuous criminal behavior. The love extended to them without knowing their convictions aid in establishing a bond that expands way beyond their reason for being incarcerated. It amplifies that fact that we are all decedents from a common ancestor, GOD!