For Immediate Release Contacts:
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 John Rago
City Communications Director
302.420.7928 (cell)
jrago@ci.wilmington.de.us
Strengthening ex-offender re-entry programs that promote positive reintegration into the community. Action Plan steps include expansion of existing programs for ex-offenders and seeking new funding for additional programs such as job training, substance abuse, mental health counseling, housing placement, assistance earning a GED or high school diploma, strengthening the Prison to Work initiative, and an analysis of the needs of ex-offenders for development of new programs that are needed, maintaining contact with ex-offenders once they are released, and re-entry planning for youth returning to the community from the State Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services that are gender specific.
Embarking on a Campaign of Hope for the City of Wilmington. Action Plan steps include establishing a multi-tiered communications strategy built around themes of hope for individuals and the community, hope for reducing crime, hope for a better quality of life, and hope for Wilmington that resonates, informs, and inspires the community, organization leaders, business leaders, policymakers, funders, and other stakeholders and moves them to action.
Creating a permanent HOPE Commission to ensure that the actions plans in the HOPE Commission report are implemented and sustained. Action Plan steps include the creation of a new, permanent HOPE Commission responsible for advocating for and implementing the recommendations of the HOPE Commission and would also be responsible for establishing the Youth Leadership Council, assessing short-term and long-term needs, secure funding, and coordinate the service efforts of the faith-based community.
The original Commission report was the consensus of 25 Commission members, and scores of others from throughout the community, who represented diverse backgrounds and, often times, competing interests. The Commission said it could not deliver a single ‘silver bullet’ or definitive answer to complex issues that it described as much larger than any one city or state. The Commission compiled a comprehensive assessment of community strengths and weaknesses, and detailed specific steps that could be taken to improve conditions that would then contribute to a better quality of life.
Mayor Baker said today that the HOPE Commission process, including both the original effort and the new successor effort, provides a blueprint for hope and offers the entire community a plan based on concepts and concrete proposals that are anchored in optimism, anticipation, faith, and hopefulness.
Current funding to assist with the work of the new Wilmington HOPE Commission has been committed from a number of sources. The City has committed $1.3 million over the next three fiscal years ($300,000 in FY 2006, $500,000 in FY 2007 and $500,000 in FY 2008), the State has committed $200,000, and the Delaware Community Foundation has pledged $25,000.
Mayor Baker today repeated a thought he offered in March in accepting the Commission’s original recommendations. He noted that the word ‘hope,’ the opposite of despair, is central to this entire effort, and should signal to those caught up in crime and violence and hopelessness, that there is greater hope now than ever before that by working together as a community, we can bring about changes to people’s lives better and make Wilmington a much more attractive and prosperous City.
The original Wilmington HOPE Commission report is available for viewing and download at the Commission website, HYPERLINK "http://www.wilmingtonhopecommision.com" www.wilmingtonhopecommision.com
[ Page 1 ] [ Page 2 ] [ Page 3 ] [ Page 4 ]
. |
