Funding Goal
To support the successful reintegration of justice-involved individuals by restoring their lives, family relationships, and communities, thereby enhancing community stability and public safety.
Overview
The Church—as the Body of Christ—has been called to extend love and grace to those who have been incarcerated (Matthew 25: 36- 40). As the hands and feet of Christ, faith-based organizations (e.g., churches, parishes, congregations, health and human service agencies) play a critical role in supporting justice-involved individuals and their families. In addition, faith-based organizations are viewed as pivotal in deterring antisocial behaviors through the promotion of spiritual values that encourage positive lifestyles and choices.
Researchers and those who work in the field everyday agree that it takes a host of services and individuals to intervene in the life of someone who faces the difficult challenge of rejoining their family and reentering their community. The areas where assistance is most often required are housing, employment, physical and mental health care, transportation, and family support. In order for such services to be successful, they should be designed to be comprehensive, individualized to the person’s needs and abilities, and responsive to how the person is adjusting to reentry. Lutheran Foundation seeks to support such services.
Outcomes
Outcomes describe, in broad terms, the measurable change within each Funding Focus Area that Lutheran Foundation would like to see in the lives of those served by grantees. Outcomes allow the Foundation to aggregate indicators across multiple grantees to determine our community impact.
Funding requests into the Foundation are most often for programmatic support. Organizational support is available for organizations that have an established relationship with the Foundation and are able to demonstrate that the funding will enable the organizations to operate more effectively and sustainably. The following are examples of programs/services/activities which the Foundation will consider for funding (not an exhaustive list):
What We Fund
Program Support
- Services that support the successful reintegration of justice-involved individuals such as:
- Employment support services
- Substance abuse treatment
- Mental health treatment
- Educational and vocational programs
- Affordable housing
- Transportation
- Life skills training
- Maintaining and/or developing healthy family relationships or social supports
- Case management services
- Health care services
- Transitional services that build a bridge from incarceration to reentry into the community
- Services for spouses, partners, or other significant family members of an individual who has been or is involved in the criminal justice system
- Services for children who have a parent who has been or is involved in the criminal justice system
- Services for caregivers of children who have a parent who has been or is involved in the criminal justice system
Capacity Building Support
- Activities and projects that would contribute to the increased capacity and sustainability of the organization in the long term, such as leadership, fundraising, risk management, and performance management.
- Short term activities or one-time expenses that help an organization and/or program operate more effectively, such as new technology, board and staff training/development, and external consulting services, such as strategic planning and program evaluation.
Click here to learn more about capacity building funding.
Interested in applying? We would love to hear from you!
