Closer To Home
Our local county jail has been known to release women at night, onto rough city streets near the railroad tracks. This method of release is just the first obstacle these women face when trying to re-enter the community.
The number of women facing these obstacles is growing nationwide and ballooning in Texas. Between 1977 and 2004, the Texas female prisoner population grew by 1,141%.* In 2005, approximately 300 women were released from the Texas state prison system into Bexar County. Many are released unsupervised, and with no help in adjusting to or help with those difficult tasks associated with the transition back into our community.
For example, one of our residents was released from a unit of the Gatesville Prison located by Waco, Texas. She was dropped off at the Greyhound bus station with only the clothes on her back and a bus ticket to San Antonio.
This resident had no money, no car, an untreated drug and alcohol problem coexisting with a mental condition, a major dental problem, and a medical situation needing immediate attention. With no GED or high school diploma she had little chance of finding a job that paid a living wage.
At the Well House, this resident found safety and support in a community of women. She was clothed and fed. Within a month, her medical and dental problems had been addressed; within two months, she was enrolled in a program to get her GED. She attended frequent 12-Step meetings to deal with her addiction and met regularly with a licensed chemical and drug counselor to regain her emotional balance. This resident is well on her way, returning successfully into the community.
The barriers formerly incarcerated women face is formidable. Without community intervention, a third of these women will be rearrested and returned to prison within the first few months of release – at a heavy cost both in human suffering and to the community*. According to Criminal Justice scholar, Jeremy Travis, having a place to go immediately upon release such as the Woman at the Well House is absolutely necessary to break this cycle. *
Programs like Woman at the Well House take women ex-offenders directly from prison and provide services and support for the difficult transition back into the community. This ministry reduces the risk of further criminal behavior and recidivism. More positively, the Woman at the Well House Ministry provides the support; tools and resources that can help a woman overcome the barriers she faces and live a new life.
*Institute on Women & Criminal Justice: HARD HIT: the Growth in the Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004. May 2006. Available at http://www.wpaonline.org.
*The Urban Institute. Justice Policy Center. A Portrait of Prisoner Reentry in Texas. March 2004. Available at http://jpc.urban.org/reentry.
*Jeremy Travis. In Thinking about “What Works, What Works Best?” The Margaret Mead Address at the National Conference of the International Community Corrections Association. November 10, 2003. Speech Transcript. November 10, 2003.