Page 32 - Christiana Care Focus

A fresh start is a healthy start
Christiana Care helps Hope Commission members break prison cycle
On an unassuming block in Wilmington, life-transforming work happens at the Hope Commission’s Achievement Center, a program that helps men recently released from prison keep from going back. A new gift from Christiana Care will enable the community- based organization to continue breaking down barriers — such as unemployment — to health and well-being for formerly incarcerated men.
“Financial support of nonprofits like the Hope Commission directly ties to our mission as a health system,” said Erin Booker, LPC, vice president for community health and engagement at Christiana Care and a member of the Hope Commission’s board of trustees.
“We know community health outcomes are better when people are gainfully employed and earn a wage that promotes financial security.”
(In March, Christiana Care, Delaware’s largest employer, was the first health system in the state to increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all employees.)
Hope up, recidivism down
At its Vandever Avenue location in
one of Wilmington’s most distressed neighborhoods, the Achievement Center uses a blend of proven approaches, including job training, educational and peer support and behavioral health services, to reduce recidivism — the likelihood that people with criminal records will continue to commit crimes.
The health system provides regular financial support and more to the Hope Commission. Christiana Care has hired
Achievement Center members for support jobs once they’ve graduated from an intense and immersive 12-week workforce development course run by the Center. Since 2013, when the partnership started, 15 Achievement Center members have obtained jobs with Christiana Care.
“Christiana Care has been a great partner to us, one that helps Achievement Center members connect even beyond jobs to ca- reers,” said Tamera Fair, executive director of the Hope Commission. “Our enhanced workforce program covers all the skills and responsibilities necessary for finding, securing and maintaining employment. It’s wonderful that Christiana Care is there at the end as a potential employer — employ- ment is one of many elements of our work, and it’s an important one.”
The Hope Commission’s holistic approach is working. According to the organization, 80% of its graduates remain out of prison more than three years after completing the program. This 20% recidivism rate is well below the rates in Delaware (almost 65%) and nationwide (nearly 68%).
Partnering for new futures
“Partnership for Christiana Care often means lifting up community organizations that are doing amazing work,” said Booker. “The Hope Commission is a perfect example. It provides critical, multi-faceted supports to men who are working hard to re-enter their community after serving time in prison and successfully break out of the criminal justice system cycle.”
With Christiana Care’s 2019 gift of $25,000, the Hope Commission can provide resourc- es like bus passes so Achievement Center clients can travel to jobs, or run trainings that equip clients to participate in and strengthen their communities.
“Christiana Care has been great about providing unrestricted financial support that isn’t tied to a specific program,”
said Fair. “Although program grants are important, the health system understands that nonprofits like ours also need to cover fundamental operational costs that enable the basics of our everyday work.”
Booker added the health system’s relationship with the Hope Commission will continue to grow. “It’s an organization that is capable of doing even more for Wilmington to empower residents to revitalize their neighborhoods and stem violence and unemployment,” she said. “And we are behind them.”
Love and respect build
healthy communities
Christiana Care is also heading off chances of people returning to prison before people are even released to return home. A new health system initiative with the Delaware Department of Corrections called Courage to Change brings social reentry counseling to incarcerated men preparing for release.
Extending a hand to keep people out of pris- on permanently has far-reaching benefits, said Neil Jasani, M.D., MBA, FACEP, chief people officer at Christiana Care.
“Incarceration not only has a tremendous impact on people’s self-worth, it also affects their families and neighborhood,” he said. “As Christiana Care moves from a health care system to a system that impacts the health of our communities, supporting returning citizens aligns with our vision
of where we want to go and the love and respect it takes to get there.” 
30 CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM
80%
OF HOPE COMMISSION GRADUATES REMAIN OUT OF PRISON MORE THAN THREE YEARS AFTER COMPLETING THE PROGRAM.