Reentry Fair Held At Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center

HENNING – Preparing offenders to leave incarceration is at the core of what we do each day in the Tennessee Department of Correction.  This week, nearly 180 residents of the Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center received some help getting back on their feet from more than 17 vendors at the Reentry Resource Fair.

Joy Pitts, WTRC Reentry Specialist and Career Development Counselor, said she helps prepare the residents by having pre-release meetings and informing them of upcoming fairs and resources available to them.  “We are in a rural area, it’s sometimes hard to get vendors to come here from East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee, but we were able to get quite a few to come from across the state for the event,” said Counselor Pitts.  “The residents always look forward to the event.  We have several new vendors here with a variety of services.  The purpose of this fair is to ensure they have proper tools and resources to return to society and be successful in their communities.”

Pitts said the individuals attending the event had 12 months or less on their sentences or have received parole.  The event occurs twice a year depending on the need and numbers and frequency of individuals preparing for release.  “We want to make sure they know what kind of resources they have,” said Counselor Pitts.  “The residents were very appreciative of the resources provided by each agency.”

TDOC would like to thank all the vendors who attended the event: Seedco, TDOC Day Reporting Center (DRC) and Community Resource Center (CRC) of Jackson, TN Department of Labor and Workforce Development, TDOC DRC and CRC of Memphis, American Job Center of Memphis, Project Return Nashville, Children and Family Services of Tipton County, University of Tennessee Martin- Ripley Center, TN Reconnect, TN Department of Human Services Child Support, Shelby County Office of Reentry, Millennium Search Staffing, UT Extension Service of Jackson and Ripley, Tennessee State University Extension Service, Thistle and Bee, CEOWorks, and Career Coach of West Tennessee.