Civic Justice Corps
The United Methodist Children’s Home is pleased to announce that the Southern Illinois Civic Justice Corps grant has been approved by the U.S. Department of Labor for almost $1.5M over the next 33 months. This new program is designed to help formerly incarcerated individuals, who primarily live in Franklin, Jefferson, and Marion Counties, reconnect with their communities by providing education and community service opportunities.
Gary Lemmon, President/CEO of UMCH stated "The young people who will be served by this new program do not live at the Children’s Home; rather they are members of our local communities who have experienced difficulties in life. This grant will allow UMCH to continue our efforts to improve the lives of at-risk young people while improving the safety of our communities. Our goal is to assist them to become productive members of society who are responsible, gainfully employed citizens. Research has established that programs such as this significantly reduce recidivism among troubled young adults and increases community safety. It is a welcome addition to the other programs that UMCH has to serve our communities, such as our YouthBuild program."
The new Civic Justice Corps program will serve upwards of 100 young people over the next 30 months and will include 9 new employment positions at UMCH.
UMCH partnered with the The Exeter Group Ltd of Carbdonale to write the Civic Justice Corps proposal. Exeter Group Ltd has also written several successful funding proposals for UMCH’s YouthBuild program. Other community partners collaborating with UMCH in this new project include Rend Lake College, Kaskaskia College, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers at Rend Lake, City of Mt. Vernon, City of Centralia, City of Benton, 2nd Judicial Circuit, 4th Judicial Circuit and the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center.