3987 Missouri Flat Rd., Suite 340, #308, Placerville, CA 95667
"To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death." - Pearl S. Buck
Giving Our Precious Women a Second Chance
HOPE is in short supply for women in our jails and prisons today. Survey any woman in any jail cell and most likely she will tell you that upon her release date she has very little hope. "...women offenders have serious personal barriers that limit their reintegration back into their communities after jail or prison." (Focus Consultants, 2003) They often lack education, financial resources, family support, and employment skills. Many have bad credit and nowhere to turn for the basics of life - food, transportation, health care, and housing.
The Story
If you will, imagine for a moment that you grew up without enough to eat. Every day you had to beg or scrounge for food. Most days you went to bed hungry. Add to that a stepfather who came home drunk and raged at you for something you had no control over. School was difficult because you were hungry and couldn't concentrate. Or maybe you had to drop out of school early to help support your family. Perhaps there were gangs in your neighborhood, which meant join the gang or risk putting you and your family in danger. And then there was the cousin who showed you how to "feel better" with illegal drugs.
So, you found yourself in jail for three months. At the end of those three months, you had nowhere to go but back to an abusive situation, a home of neglect, or the streets. You were out of jail, but still you had no education, no job skills, no resources, and now you had a criminal record. You didn't know that you had choices. You didn't know that HOPE even existed for you.
The Problem
A majority of women in jail or prison have similar histories. Growing up, their lives were often filled with hunger, drugs or alcohol, fear, despair and hopelessness. Former women inmates who have no HOPE stand a greater chance of returning to jail.
A Solution
Doll House Ministries has a mission to provide transitional housing and services to women who are just getting out of jail or prison. These services will give them support, encouragement, choices, and best of all, HOPE.
Supporting these women benefits the community by enhancing public safety, providing better offender accountability, and reducing recidivism. A happy, healthy, employed, goal-oriented, and well-connected woman will most likely contribute positively to our communities!
See our "About Us" page to find out how you can help.
