Opinion: What Happens When Reentry Starts with Housing?

""Having that haven, a roof over your head-it is the most important thing in the world." That's how Richard, the first resident of the Fulton Community Reentry Center in the Bronx, described what it felt like to walk through our doors after leaving prison. Recently, Fulton reached a significant milestone: more than 75 formerly incarcerated men have moved into permanent homes and reintegrated with society as productive community members."

"National research shows that people leaving incarceration are nearly 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. The first weeks are perilous: people face unemployment, strict housing restrictions, and a maze of legal barriers, all while trying to reconnect with health care. Without a job or a lease, stability can slip out of reach, elevating the risk of depression or substance use."

"Fulton takes a new approach. Across from Crotona Park in the South Bronx, what was once a prison has been turned over by the state to a nonprofit and reimagined as a 140-bed community space for formerly incarcerated men through vital city investments in creating high-quality infrastructure and a program that recognizes the unique needs of this population. Instead of just offering a bed, Fulton provides intensive case management, workforce training, health care coordination, trauma-informed counseling,"

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are released from prison and face a high risk of homelessness and instability. People leaving incarceration are nearly ten times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. The first weeks after release involve unemployment, strict housing restrictions, legal barriers, and disrupted health care, increasing the risk of depression and substance use. Fulton transformed a former prison into a 140-bed reentry center that combines housing with intensive case management, workforce training, health care coordination, and trauma-informed counseling. More than 75 residents have moved into permanent homes and reconnected as productive community members, demonstrating a replicable model.

Read at City Limits