NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT

RETURNING TO SOCIETY AFTER INCARCERATION WITH PROJECT RETURN

BY ANNA D’AMICO

A man stands up and rings a bell hanging from the wall. The room cheers. At Project Return, that means someone is employed, fully outfitted and ready to reenter society.

Project Return is a Nashville-based nonprofit with the goal of finding jobs for people after incarceration.

The organization was founded in 1979 by the late reverends Bill Barnes and Don Beisswenger, after they realized the difficulties faced by those reentering society after prison.

Since its founding, the work of Project Return has remained relationship-based — they work closely not only with the men and women they serve, but with employment partners as well.

The program begins with prison “inreach” in which volunteers make connections with men and women doing their time who will soon rejoin the community.

Once out of prison, the training begins.

“Our focus right off the bat is to get them employed,” said Jordan Howes, communication manager at Project Return. “We believe that with employment comes all other opportunities like financial independence and really the ability to build that full, free life after incarceration.”

The initial week-long program begins with a three-day job readiness course, which includes topics such as interview preparation, relapse prevention and money management. Participants then receive a polished resume with their accomplishments and work experience from the Project Return team to use for job applications.

The latter part of the week consists mainly of mock interviews and covering the background question: how to talk about their criminal convictions in interviews with possible employers.

Employment is offered to those who go through training one of two ways: directly with a partnering employer or through PRO Employment, one of Project Return’s social enterprises.

Project Return Opportunity for Employment, or PRO Employment, is the organization’s own temp-like agency that employs individuals and fills hard to staff, entry level shifts, usually at manufacturers for Middle Tennessee companies.

Not only does PRO Employment provide work opportunities, they also provide transportation, food, and work supplies — everything a worker needs to succeed at a new job.

This program allows those with conviction history to get recent work experience and prove reliability to employers. The goal is to be offered a permanent position after three months. So far 1,477 individuals have been placed in jobs through PRO Employment.

On average, 70 percent of people remain unemployed through their first year after incarceration, according to Project Return’s site. Project Return flips this number on its head. Between PRO Employment and direct referrals to employers, 83 percent of individuals who go through the program find jobs. In 2019, 578 out of the 694 people who went to Project Return got jobs.

“It’s really about getting them employed and finding them that opportunity to highlight their skills and their experience,” said Howes.

The organization’s track record shows that assistance like this can help break the common cycle of recidivism: While state and national recidivism rates are over 50 percent, the rate for those who go through Project Return is less than 15 percent.

The community Project Return provides doesn’t end once an individual is employed. After employment, they enroll in a job retention program, where they receive job coaching and rewards for reaching milestones.

“We like to reward employment and our participants’ hard work and also encourage them to keep excelling by offering coaching,” said Howes. “Great stories are everywhere around here, it’s hard not to find one.”

Project Return’s newest social enterprise, launched in 2017, is PRO Housing. This program is designed to provide permanent housing to those who haven’t found rental opportunities due to their conviction history, despite working and being back on their feet.

By purchasing and rehabbing homes throughout the city, Project Return acts as a private rental market that is willing to rent to those with past convictions.

Since the launch of PRO Housing, 25 houses have been acquired, rehabbed and are now called home by hard working Nashvillians.