WYANDOTTE COUNTY, Kan. — A Wyandotte County organization has been awarded a nearly $240,000 federal grant to support its offender reentry program.
Avenue of Life will receive $238,940 to support its program that targets the families of current and former incarcerated men and women. The funding comes from the Edward J. Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program.
“What the JAG grant is allowing us to do is investment in Wyandotte County, to step in and make families whole, to give them opportunities to step back into a place where they can be productive or they can be stable,” said Cameron Erlandson, Avenue of Life operation director.
Over the past six years, Avenue of Life has helped about 1,600 families. Roughly 70% of those families have been impacted by incarceration in their family, according to Erlandson, and consequently faced barriers like employment and housing.
“You can look at the emotional impact and the trauma that happens on a family’s life when someone is gone," Erlandson said. "What it does is it sets that family back and it could even be for multiple generations because you have loss of income, loss of investment."
To help, Avenue of Life steps provides individuals and families with personal “navigators," who offer counseling and help people find jobs, secure housing and take care of their other needs.
The JAG grant money help cover the costs of three navigators.
“This investment from the JAG is really what allows us to hire the staff but provide the resources individuals need," Erlandson said, "and allows us to expand for both individuals coming out of incarceration as well as families. Without this investment, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do."
Avenue of Life works with other organizations, such as Brothers in Blue Reentry in Wyandotte County.
