St. Davids, PA: The Center for Urban Youth Development at Eastern University is proud to co-sponsor the 2016 Reconcile, Recover & Restore: Reentry Conference at Tasker Street Missionary Baptist Church in Philadelphia on June 20-25. The conference is for returning citizens and their families, communities or persons impacted by crime, support service organizations, and faith communities interested in serving the incarcerated or previously incarcerated population and is sponsored by Tasker Street Missionary Baptist Church in partnership with Eastern University, Out of Nazareth, and the Office of Philadelphia City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson.
Officially beginning with pre-conference worship services at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 19, the Reentry Conference will proceed with a variety of nightly interactive workshops or panels on such topics as recovering from trauma, police-youth relations, reconciling previously incarcerated persons to the community, juvenile life without parole issues in PA, prison & reentry ministry training for faith communities, and will conclude with a Saturday Job & Resource Fair for returning citizens.
Conference visionary, Dr. Michael Johnson, Medical Director of Miriam Medical Clinics and volunteer at Graterford prison says, “We can no longer ignore the problems caused by crime and mass incarceration.” Dr. Kimberlee Johnson, Director of the Center for Urban Youth Development and faculty member in Eastern’s Urban Studies Department, further states of the conference, “Most people who go to jail or prison get released. Then what? This conference invites people to join in the process of repairing the harm caused by crime and incarceration. We'll be tackling some tough issues, but our hope is to equip people with the tools and resources they need for recovery, restoration, and reconciliation.”
Thanks to the assistance of organizations such as Healing Communities, the American Bible Society and Minds of Men, and with contributions from Brown’s Shoprite, Wawa, Trader Joe’s and Tandem Recording Studios, the Reconcile, Recover & Restore: Reentry Conference will feature numerous workshop facilitators to provide valuable insight and expertise on various topics related to justice and reconciliation. Facilitators include reentry specialists, professionals, formerly incarcerated persons, people impacted by crime, youth, and artists.
Refreshments are served Monday-Friday at 6:30 p.m., followed by an artistic presentation, and a dynamic workshop. The Saturday Job & Resource Fair is for returning citizens only and begins with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m., continues with optional workforce readiness workshops, and opportunities to apply for employment, educational programs, and services. Attendees may choose to come one night or attend the entire conference. The conference is free, but registration is required.
To see the full list of workshop facilitators, read a detailed schedule of events and access registration information, visit eastern.edu/reentry or email reentry@eastern.edu.
