COME TOGETHER.
MAKE AN IMPACT.

It’s a powerful thing when people come together to work toward a goal that’s larger than themselves. When we believe that our excess - whether time, money, or certain skills - has been given to us to manage and distribute, community engages.

For the past eight years, I’ve been helping with marketing for Soteria CDC and its social enterprise Soteria at Work - a nonprofit whose vision and mission center around building community. The direct services that Soteria provides help men and women build productive, stable lives after incarceration. In order to provide those services, Soteria invites everyone in our community to take part.

I have seen nurses, lawyers, therapists, artists, and financial advisors donate their services; churches organize clothing drives and dinners; I have seen mentors and mentees become friends, gardeners teach hydroponics; I have seen student volunteers inspired to figure out how to make a difference with their careers. Some of these individuals work directly with those we serve and some do not. Some share socio-economic status, political beliefs, and religious views - some do not. Yet all of them give what they have to help men and women break generational cycles of recidivism and poverty.

This is the power of community. And it works.

In the past 4 years, 0 graduates of Soteria’s 12 month program recidivated. For those who completed 30 days, 3%.

Preventing recidivism means parents come home to their children. Crime decreases in our communities. Stability grows.

Coming together really does make an impact.