By the time I got involved in 2011, Venturing Out was already three years old and running for the spotlights onstage. I lent my support to their theatrical performance by former inmates and it was a great success. Hooray! I was not able to attend in person, but I watched it on Vimeo. You can, too.
Today, the founder of the Venturing Out sent word that the end of the year will mark the end of their mission. That's not to say that former inmates will be left in the lurch. Oh, no. Other groups have formed with missions similar to those of Venturing Out.
That is a very good thing.
Still, it is sad to see the end of this group.
Here are the reassuring words of farewell from Baillie.
***** ***** *****
Dear Venturing Out supporter,
Today, I am the bearer of sad news. By the end of the year, Venturing Out will have shut its doors. It is a painful day for me, and for the whole VO family. Over the last seven years we have worked hard to develop VO, and I am enormously proud of what we have achieved together. Ultimately, however, we simply do not have the ability to continue.
I set up Venturing Out in 2008 in response to what I saw as an opportunity - that men and women leaving prison struggled to find decent employment due to the stigma of having a criminal conviction, yet many had significant entrepreneurial experience and talent that could be repurposed toward starting their own legal enterprises post-release. Thanks to an incredible group of dedicated volunteers including our passionate entrepreneurship instructors, Venturing Out was born in order to provide practical entrepreneurship education to people in county and state correctional facilities, enabling them to support themselves sustainably upon release. Over the past 7 years, we've supported hundreds of men and women in prison to transfer or gain the skills to start a legal enterprise post-release.
We now welcome a new phase; our all-star instructors Judy Armell (judyarmell@aol.com) and Marilyn Feinberg (marilyn138@comcast.net) have been continuing to teach the course independently and the curriculum will be accessible to anyone else who would like to use it in prisons. If you're interested, please contact Judy and Marilyn directly. We will be donating our remaining assets to the worthy charity Span Inc, which offers a variety of programs to people who've recently been released from prison, and which has been a partner and friend of VO nearly since our inception.
I would like to thank the many people who've enabled VO to come this far - our volunteers, funders, and partners - to say we couldn't have done it without you is an understatement. I want to thank, in particular, our Board of Directors and our former Executive Director Laura Winig, who have invested an unbelievable amount of time, belief and energy into this organization. Above all, I want to thank you, our supporters, who have been there for us during the whole journey.
After seven years, the picture for the criminal justice sector is still gloomy. America's prison population remains the highest in the world at 2.3 million people, which President Obama has called "a source of inequity that has ripple effects on families and on communities and ultimately on our nation." People leaving prison continue to be marginalized and shut out of the labor market - despite the tremendous value they offer the economy, both culturally and financially. I hope there's a significant shift in this sector toward greater investment in rehabilitation and a less punitive ethos, and soon.
If running Venturing Out has taught me one thing it is that we have an incredible pool of latent talent in this country among people in prison, who - given the chance - have an enormous amount to contribute to our culture, our society and our economy. It is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.
I hope we can keep in touch. And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me; my current email address is baillie@sparkinside.org.
All the best, and thank you again for your support,
Baillie
Founder
Venturing Out
***** ***** *****
I'll definitely keep in touch.
My youngest brother will be re-entering society at-large in just a while and I want to be able to steer him in the right direction.
Thanks, Baillie, and thanks to all of your crew over the past seven years, for helping inmates become men and women again.
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