Building Second Chances

BUILDING

SECOND CHANCES CASE FOR SUPPORT November 2021

Alvis has been turning lives around since 1967 and it has been my honor to be entrusted to lead the agency since 2005. I get goosebumps every time I think about the tens of thousands of men and women who have come to Alvis and received the encouragement, treatment, and tools they needed to make their lives healthy and whole. As a result, the lives of their families, neighbors, and others connected to them have changed for the better, too.

Alvis serves the underserved and forgotten people in our community: individuals with justice involvement, those who need treatment for addiction or mental health disorders, women who have been trafficked, individuals with barriers to employment, and individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Our challenges have always been how to provide services to all of the people who seek us out and how to provide the complex continuum of care that will address the multiple needs of those we serve.

We need your support to build second chances.

When the Alum Creek Expansion and Renovation project is complete, we will be able to serve up to 350 individuals at this residential reentry program, compared to just 104 today. More importantly, our clients will be in a building with dedicated space for treatment, classes, group and individual counseling, family programming, structured recreation, workforce development and skills training, and more.

Each and every day, we have the opportunity to work together, to believe in people’s ability to change, and to back up that belief by investing in the resources that research has shown to be effective in turning lives around. Join us in weaving together the beautiful and diverse strands needed to create the fabric of a healthy and vibrant community.

With Appreciation, Denise M. Robinson President and CEO

Most people who commit crimes do so because their needs are not being met.

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An estimated 1 in 3 adult Americans has some kind of criminal record – and even an arrest can reduce the likelihood of a job offer by up to 50%.

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About 80% of all individuals in the justice system suffer from a substance use disorder and about 50% suffer from a mental health disorder. Locking these people up does nothing to address their behavioral health needs, which are at the root of their justice involvement.

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Our vision is that communities believe each person’s potential is more important than their past.

From 2018 through 2020:

4,527 clients

successfully completed our programs

and saved tax payers

$7,324,722

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I have benefitted from second chances provided by people who looked beyond my past and were able to see my potential...now, I’m doing my part to support second chances for others.

– Jesus Garcia, Alvis Program Graduate

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JESUS GARCIA – 180 DEGREE IMPACT Just 37 days after being released from incarceration, Jesus Garcia was rearrested and on his way back to prison. “I used my prison network to find a job and a place to stay,” he said. The results were both disastrous and predictable.

Jesus Garcia had already spent most of his adult life in prison, primarily as a result of his addiction. His quick return to prison was a wakeup call. “I decided to fight for my life and my future.” While still in prison, he participated in an intensive addiction treatment that challenged him to change his thought process while it also helped him work his way through the skeletons in his closet. “When released, Garcia did the opposite of what he had done before. “This

Alvis Program Graduate Jesus Garcia spoke at the groundbreaking for Alvis’ Alum Creek Expansion and Renovation Project.

time, I turned my back on my prison network and came to the Alvis residential reentry program,” he said.

“The Alvis staff cared in a way I had never experienced before.” He continued to attend substance use treatment and started workforce development programming. Garcia got a job in a factory and began working his way up.

More than anything, however, Garcia grabbed a hold of opportunities to try to prevent other kids from travelling the same road that he did. Today, Garcia works as a Street Mentor for Halt Violence, a nonprofit based in Columbus, Ohio. “I have benefitted from second chances provided by people who looked beyond my past and were able to see my potential. People at Alvis believed in me and supported me in a new way of life,” says Garcia. “Now, I’m doing my part to support second chances for others.”

“Punishment alone – sending someone to prison without addressing their underlying issues – is much more likely to set a person up to return to their old behavior. At Alvis, we help to put that person on the path to change by providing him or her with the tools to address their patterns of behavior and assessed treatment needs.” said Keith Stevens, immediate past chairman of the Alvis board and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce.”

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THE CURRENT SITUATION Today, we are focused on Building Second Chances and becoming even more efficient with our resources.

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Our Alum Creek facility, located at 1755 Alum Creek Drive, was built in 2000 and serves up to 104 men at any given time. This facility is currently at full capacity and has no room for growth.

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Another 100 men reside at the YMCA on East Long Street in downtown Columbus, which is located in a less than ideal location for recovery. The YMCA will close this building in the very near future, and these men will need to be relocated. In addition, we are currently paying $600,000 per year to house these men at the YMCA.

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The women currently residing in three, high maintenance Victorian homes will move to the renovated part of the building.

Alvis currently operates six residential reentry centers in Central Ohio for men and women under federal, state, or local correctional supervision, as well as two Community Reentry Centers in Columbus. Similar programs are offered in Chillicothe, Lima, and Toledo.

Reentry includes evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy to help the residents identify and manage thinking errors that may have influenced poor decisions in the past. They also receive case management services, substance use treatment, and individualized linkages to community services and resources. One-on-one and group services with highly trained staff help clients move toward a successful return to our community. We also have an evidence-based Family and Children’s program that provides family centered treatment to help the children and their parents achieve family wellness and stability.

When you support Alvis, you give a person who feels like a lost soul with nothing and no one the hope and the tools that they can turn their life around.

– Megan, Alvis Family and Children’s Program Participant

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All of these facilities require separate staffing, including program managers, case managers, cognitive behavioral therapists, 24-hour community reentry specialists, maintenance workers, food service, and security staff. Most importantly, improved floor plans with adequate individual and group treatment rooms are needed to support learning . . . and ultimately a successful, crime-free return to our community. Further, these centers have no room for growth.

Alvis must be ready with available housing as Ohio continues to transition from over-crowded prisons and jails to more effective communitybased corrections and treatment.

376

job-seeking adults with justice backgrounds have completed the HIRE Education program from January to September 2021

Hiring someone in the Alvis program is not only socially responsible; but it’s also smart business.

– Jane Grote Abell 2019

79%

have obtained employment within 90 days of completing the program, or have enrolled in a training or education program

243

(79%) have met this outcome from Jan-Sep 2021

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WHY DOES THIS MATTER? The needs of individuals with justice histories are complex. Prior to incarceration, they may have been difficult to employ, and they leave prison with limited education and work history. They are ill-prepared for the world to which they return.

Over the last 25 years, there has been more than a fourfold increase in the number of former inmates returning to the community.

In Ohio, 1 in 25 adults are under the supervision of the criminal justice system. Franklin County receives almost 1,600 men and women released from state prisons each year, and is home to 40,000 people released from the county jail and 2,900 adults under supervision. They have served their time, and they are looking to re-establish themselves and their families in the community.

According to the Franklin Co. Reentry Coalition, many restored citizens are ill-equipped to live successful, productive, and law abiding lives upon release. A high concentration of justice-involved adults within a community can generate huge costs as well as increase the potential for criminal activity, heighten public health issues, and raise rates of homelessness and unemployment.

1 in 25

adults in Ohio

are under the supervision of the criminal justice system

79 of Alvis clients %

remain out of the criminal justice system

National Average is 50%

THE SOLUTION It costs more than $30,500 each year to keep someone in prison in Ohio. Alvis’ reentry programs are 75% less expensive – and they are more effective. Three years after completing the Alvis residential reentry program, 79% of our clients have remained out of the criminal justice system, compared to the national average of about 50%.

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At Franklin County, we’re thinking very deeply about how we can transform the most vulnerable among us and provide them with a way of life that leads to economic mobility and opportunity...

We see Alvis as partners in this process.

– Commissioner Kevin Boyce

ALUM CREEK FACILITY EXPANSION To address the need to relocate our clients, Alvis is expanding our Alum Creek facility and add a connected two-story facility on the property.

These new and renovated facilities will also offer the following improvements: •

Enhanced program implementation to support successful reentry with more room for individual and group counseling sessions

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New indoor recreation and kitchen, with separate dining rooms for men and women

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Onsite medical, visual and dental services provided by PrimaryOne Health

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Maximized program 0perations, with fewer staff to manage and operate programs – a cost savings of approximately $400,000 per year

At an estimated square footage of 45,000 to 54,000, this expanded facility will be

This expansion project makes both financial and business sense. Alvis will save more than $600,000 per year by having all our clients on one campus; which will significantly increase our annual net fund balance and allow us to provide other needed services for our target populations. But most importantly, the men and women we serve will receive improved services, which translates into improved outcomes as they re-enter our community.

the current 18,000 square foot building.

The total cost to build the new men’s facility and renovate the current building for our women clients is $25 million.

This larger facility will increase our capacity to serve residents from 280 currently to

350 residents

2½ to 3 times

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$6M BUILDING SECOND CHANCES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN Together, as a community that cares about safety and the wellbeing of its residents, we must now come together to make a transformational generational impact for individuals, families, neighborhoods, and our Central Ohio community by Building Second Chances.

Alvis is seeking to launch a $6 million philanthropic capital campaign to support the renovation and expansion of our Alum Creek campus. To date, we have already received $350,000 from the State and from other philanthropic partners.

SECOND CHANCES CAPITAL CAMPAIGN Philanthropy (24%): $6M Public Funding & Bonds (24%): $6M

Self-Investment (52%): $13M

WHY DO WE, AS A COMMUNITY, NEED TO DO THIS? Because everyone – every one of us -- deserves a second chance. And if we do not provide housing and services for these men and women, where else will they go?

In 1967 when Alvis was established, there were only a handful of halfway houses in the country. The need for transitional services for people leaving prison was not something many people had ever thought about. And no one had thought about creating a program to meet this unique need. That is, until Ralph W. Alvis, a progressive former warden at the Ohio Penitentiary, envisioned a way to change lives.

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Today, Alvis provides comprehensive, research-based services for: •

Individuals who have become involved in the criminal justice system

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Individuals with significant barriers to employment

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Individuals with intellectual and/ or developmental disabilities and behavioral challenges

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Individuals in need of integrated behavioral healthcare treatment services

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Families, especially children, impacted by their loved ones’ justice involvement, developmental disability, and/or behavioral healthcare needs

THANK YOU for making a 180 Degree Impact in the hundreds of lives you’ve touched through your generosity.

CONTACT Denise M. Robinson President & CEO Denise.robinson@alvis180.org

Tracy Kirby Senior Director of Advancement Tracy.kirby@alvis180.org