Chatham gets new Reentry Service Center

We received the following press release:

• Chicago, IL -- In an effort to heal a broken community, a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Tuesday, March 3rd from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the GEO Reentry Service Center, 8007 So. Cottage Grove Avenue in Suite A located in the Chatham community.
  
  The son of the late Rev. Leonard Barr, Emanuel Barr, Outreach and Operations manager for the Center, said the ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. and that the Center is a one-stop shop for men and women who are on parole.
  
  GEO Reentry Services supports the work of the Illinois Department of Corrections Barr said the new office would provide services including job development, resources and reentry skills including resume building, dress for success, education with a full time employment and education coordinator to support the efforts.
  
  “These skills will equip them to be contributing citizens as they reintegrate into the community,” said Barr.
  
  GEO Reentry Services has been in Illinois since 1997 with six offices in Illinois: East St. Louis, Decatur, Rockford, Chicago Heights, West Fulton and now in Chatham.
  
  The opening of the Chatham office, he said, “Is an opportunity to help the community. My father was a community activist who worked with African American churches. That’s my DNA. The work we do serves to create a better outcome for these returning citizens as well as public safety on the South Side of Chicago.”
  
  “Having the ability to offer services that contribute to the healing of the community is redemptive work particularly in under served communities,” said Barr. “Reducing recidivism is the goal of our work which we hope will change the landscape of incarceration and offer safer and healthier communities.”
  
  The area manager for GEO Reentry is Kim Cajicek from Springfield.