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Justice 4 Housing (J4H), in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Returning Citizens (ORC), announced this week the grand opening of a new single room occupancy (SRO) program for formerly incarcerated people. The SRO program is located in a recently updated Dorchester triple-decker called Brie’s House.
According to J4H, the innovative program was born out of the organizations’ shared missions of breaking the cycle of recidivism for justice-involved individuals through housing. Formerly incarcerated people are ten times more likely to be homeless than the general population, yet access to housing has proven to reduce the likelihood of their return to prison by 61%.
Justice 4 Housing Founder and Executive Director Leslie Credle was joined by Office of Returning Citizens Executive Director David Mayo, Brie’s House residents, Brie’s House Manager Wendy Dinkins, J4H and ORC program staff and local community partners in celebrating the exciting new program.
“Brie’s House means the world to me, as an Executive Director, as a survivor of incarceration and also as a mother,” said Leslie Credle, whose own experience with the `carceral system' has shaped her understanding of housing as a critical piece of reentry. “Brie’s House is named for my daughter Brianna, who kept up my mortgage payments while I was incarcerated. She was tragically taken from us before I was released, and with this new program her legacy lives on to ensure that people leaving prison have a safe and stable home to return to, just like I did.”
“Brie's House is a community collaborative project between the ORC and Justice 4 Housing that will impact the lives of returning citizens in a productive manner,” said Mayo, who heads up the mayor’s office dedicated to formerly incarcerated people. “We are thrilled to support this important initiative."
“I’ve been housing vulnerable populations for 30 years,” said Brie’s House Manager Wendy Dinkins, who manages day to day life and services in the new SRO building. “I am over the moon about this program and I am so proud to provide tailored services to this community that’s been left behind for too long.”
Brie’s House supports the needs of formerly incarcerated people by providing stable temporary housing and no less than six months of wrap-around stabilization services. The SRO program paves the way to permanent housing by providing housing search support, financial empowerment resources, a safe place for clients to heal from their incarceration and begin rebuilding their lives.
“There are not two clear-cut sides here,” said a Brie’s House resident, alluding to society’s perception of victims versus perpetrators. “Most suspects are victims of things like poverty well before they are labeled offenders. We are all on the same side. The real problem here is a lack of resources. And Justice 4 Housing is at the core of resolutions, bringing water to the drought of desperation in the community.”
The repurposed multi-family home in Dorchester currently houses 12 formerly incarcerated men, each with their own private room and shared access to three kitchens and six bathrooms. The house manager provides on-site case management services, facilitates group meetings and coordinates site visits from community partner organizations.
The new housing opportunity is just one of the many groundbreaking approaches employed by J4H to ensure that justice-involved individuals have equitable access to housing in the Commonwealth. J4H runs two additional programs that are each the first-of-their-kind in the country, called Hands on Defense (HOD) and the Stable Housing and Reintegration Program (SHARP). HOD engages clients in a participatory defense process to disrupt unjust discrimination by public housing authorities (PHAs) and private landlords. SHARP partners with local PHAs to allocate set-aside housing vouchers specifically for justice-involved individuals. SHARP participants also receive 18 months of case management and comprehensive support services.
Justice 4 Housing (J4H) describes itself as a grassroots organization that provides housing and family reunification to Justice Involved Individuals (JIIs) through policy, advocacy and service. J4H believes in a Housing First approach because a safe and stable home is crucial for a successful reentry to society. "We are dedicated to the abolishment of discriminatory federal, state and local housing policies that limit access to affordable housing for JIIs."
