Reentry Council’s Winter Giveaway Event on Saturday, Dec. 2
Coats, hats, clothes and footwear were in demand at Walter Reed Community Center on Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Arlington Community Reentry Council’s Winter Giveaway Event.
The event was held for individuals reentering society from incarceration and their families. William Burley, Chairman of the volunteer Arlington Community Reentry Council, says a family came with a small child and several homeless individuals from DHS who took sweatshirts, clothes, snacks and blankets.
Burley added that they had a number of the 20 Arlington community stakeholders who support the Reentry Council represented at the event, and homeless people had a chance to visit with groups like Offenders Aid Restoration (OAR) and Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) to see what resources are available to them.
“If you don’t have to worry about your food for a week, you can concentrate on your bills. It really helps.”
The giveaway items had been donated by members of the Arlington stakeholders community. “For instance the District parole officers donated a lot of knit hats; Catholic Charities donated sweatshirts and I think the blankets came from the Public Defender's Office. Everyone contributed.”
Burley said the Reentry Council and stakeholders meet once a month, and one of the things they do is help staff cases if any agency has a problem with a client.
“For instance, I recently took a case of a person returning to the community who was homeless. I brought it to the Council, and Department of Human Services (DHS) said if we could get the person here they could provide shelter, and AFAC could help with food and OAR could provide a couple of nights in a hotel until things were stable.
“That’s what we do at Council. We try to develop a roadmap for when they get out. We try to anticipate problems. If they have a mental [health] crisis, then this. If something else. then that.”
Burley said, “We just celebrated our first year anniversary as an organization in November so a lot of people don’t know about us yet and what we do. We’re hoping to get out the word so we can help more people live a better life and avoid recidivism.”
Their next event will be Family Orientation in March 2024. This event will provide an opportunity for returning citizens and their families to meet with multiple community service providers in one location in an effort to gain information and access to services.
The Arlington Council is part of the Virginia Community Reentry Initiative which is a community-based reentry approach unique in its integration of human services and public safety. It was a governor’s initiative in 2011 that is being voluntarily implemented by a number of Virginia localities.