Fresh Start Ministries
Fresh Start Ministries provides services to those individuals who have been incarcerated and need assistance as they re-enter community life.
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ABOUT
Fresh Start Ministries is a nonprofit 501c3 organization that helps to reintegrate newly released inmates from the Linn County Correctional System in three programs. First, we have a Correctional Chaplaincy Program that visits incarcerated individuals in the Linn County correctional system including the jail and juvenile detention center. After incarceration, individuals met in the jail can then move into two community reintegration programs: RISE (Reintegration Initiative for Safety and Empowerment) Program and the Adult Mentoring Program. The RISE Program and Adult Mentoring Program both use community volunteers known as Navigators who assist formerly incarcerated participants on their journey back into community life. Participants are referred to the RISE Program after initial contact is made within the Linn County judicial system through the Linn County Correctional Chaplain. Once this referral is made and the inmate is released, the participant gains access to community assistance through the RISE Program for employment, household goods, housing, clothing, transportation and other needed assistance to reintegrate back into productive community life. For those participants needing more individualized and intensive help, they are referred onto the Adult Mentoring Program.