The following news stories from Virginia CARES, Inc. are updated regularly to keep you updated on news within our organization.

Virginia CARES Update
8/3/2010

• CARES remembers Cindy Martin
• DCJS Contracts to be Sent to Subcontractors
• Ex-offender Housing Discussions Underway
• People Inc. Feature on WVTF
• Local DOC Representatives Travel to TAP CARES for Site Visit
• Communities That Thrive
• Mentoring Children of Prisoners Grant Submitted
• Legislative Open House Postponed

CARES remembers Cindy Martin
Virginia CARES remembers the life and work of Cindy Martin, Executive Director of Virginia CARES from 1999-2003.  Cindy passed on July 17, 2010 after a brave battle with cancer.  A Proclamation in Cindy’s honor is currently being drafted and will be read during a future session of Virginia’s General Assembly. To share your memories of Cindy’s life or to offer condolences to her family and friends, feel free to post an entry on the Virginia CARES Facebook site: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-CARES/


DCJS Contracts
Department of Criminal Justice Services contracts between CARES Inc and subcontracting sites have been reviewed and will be sent out this week.


Ex-Offender Housing Discussions Underway
In recent months, CARES has been a part of several conference calls with the Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness (VCEH) to explore options for developing a statewide ex-offender housing program.  Plans will likely center on establishing funding for a single-site demonstration project that can be replicated across the state.


People Inc. Feature on WVTF
A profile on People, Incorporated was aired as part of WVTF’s morning broadcast on NPR on August 2, 2010. People’s Executive Director, Rob Goldsmith talks about People’s beginnings as Virginia’s first Community Action Agency and discusses former President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty”.  For the full story, see here: http://www.wvtf.org/news_and_notes/index.php


Local Department Of Corrections Representatives Travel to TAP CARES for Site Visit
Total Action Against Poverty (TAP)-Virginia CARES recently hosted a site visit for Roanoke-based DOC representatives, including Sherman Lea, Regional Director of the Western Region of Community Corrections and Chairman of Virginia CARES’s Board of Directors.   Through such meetings, CARES hopes to create a dialogue between DOC staff and re-entry providers so that each partner can better understand the collaborative process that successful re-entry requires.


Communities That Thrive to provide CARES with Financial Literacy Curriculum and Banking Tools
Communities That Thrive, a Washington, DC-based foundation that provides financial literacy training and banking tools to unbanked and underbanked communities, has approved CARES Inc.’s application to support financial literacy and debit-based banking among ex-offenders statewide.  Meetings to discuss organizational details and program implementation will occur in late August.


Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) Grant Submitted
CARES recently submitted an application to the Administration for Children & Families—Mentoring Children of Prisoners grant program to support My Time, a collaborative mentoring program that will target children of both juvenile and adult offenders to provide long-term, stable, youth development-oriented mentoring services in the Roanoke Valley.


Legislative Open House Postponed
CARES’s first annual legislative open house has been postponed due to scheduling difficulties. Plans to re-schedule the event are in progress and save-the-date announcements will be issued via email as soon as details are finalized.

Virginia CARES Breaking News
7/19/2010

Cynthia Alice Martin

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Cynthia Alice (Cindy) Martin, 64, of Vinton, Va., passed away Saturday, July 17, 2010. Cynthia Martin is remembered as one of the two most important people in the development of TAP Ex-Offender programs and the development of Virginia CARES, the first preand post release program in the Commonwealth of Virginia for inmates of state correctional institutions. She was a graduate of William Byrd High School. Cindy was responsible for lobbying at the General Assembly to see that there was a reentry program for the people coming out of prison, that was supportive of them and respected their ability to change. As a result, Virginia CARES has worked with over 70,000 former inmates with a successful reduction of recidivism. Cindy was a loving and giving person. She loved being able to help people in need and in times of crisis. Cindy never married or had children of her own. She had several nieces and nephews that she loved as her own. Cindy was always available to anyone for advice and counsel. She was loved by all and will be missed. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Ocie Martin, and two brothers, Samuel Hubert Martin and Paul Wyatt Martin. Cindy is survived by her devoted niece, Jayne Martin Wilson, of Clayton, N.C.; special devoted stepson, Jeffrey Graybill; devoted sister-in-law, Frankie E. (Betty) Brunk, of Raleigh, N.C.; and two special friends, Bruce Bunniewell, Vinton, and Ashley Thomas, Vinton; her dog and faithful companion, Molly Martin. Thanks to the wonderful women at Helpful Hands Home Health Care, Carilion Clinic Hospice and Meals on Wheels. A graveside service will be held at 12 noon, Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at Mountain View Cemetery, with Chaplain Roger Graves. Reception for friends and family will follow at Vinton Masonic Lodge on Washington Avenue. The family will received friends from 9:45 to 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at Oakey's Vinton Chapel, 540-982-2221.



Published in Roanoke Times from July 18 to July 19, 2010

 

Virginia CARES Update
6/4/10 

• Radford University to Evaluate CARES
• First Annual Legislative Open House 
• CARES is on Facebook

Radford University to Evaluate CARES TEP in Roanoke and New River Valley

Virginia CARES and the Radford University School of Social Work are partnering to evaluate the new demonstration Transitional Employment Programs (TEP) currently winding down at our offices in TAP and NRCA.  This project could be a valuable tool for both continuing to ensure that Virginia CARES programming incorporates the newest best practices, and for creating proof of efficacy for future fund development efforts. 

First Annual Legislative Open House to be Hosted by TAP Site

This August, the TAP office will host civic and political leaders from across the state for a day-long Open House.  This event will allow us to educate a wide array of leaders on the importance of responsible reentry.  Also being introduced at the Open House will be the M. Caldwell Butler Award, which will be given to political leaders who supported CARES and responsible reentry over the last thirty years. 

CARES is on Facebook

Attention Facebook friends—give Virginia CARES a “like” by visiting us at:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-CARES/128435887166997

                                            


The Mission of Virginia CARES is:

To create and maintain a statewide network of ex-offender reentry programs to provide transitional assistance, financial aid, job readiness training, temporary employment, job search and career development, human relations and self-awareness training, and ongoing support services to prisoners, ex-offenders, and their families in Virginia.