FLINT, MI – Today, Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) announced that the Flint Downtown Weed & Seed has been awarded $1,611,317 in stimulus funding for the Ex-Offender Community Service Employment Program. The program is expected to put at least 75 to 125 ex-offenders to work improving local neighborhoods. The funding was made available through the Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program American, established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which passed the House of Representatives on February 13, 2009 with Congressman Kildee’s strong support. Congressman Kildee also wrote to the Department of Justice on May 4, 2009 to request this funding.
“The Ex-Offender Community Service Employment program will make a real difference in our neighborhoods and I am proud to have helped secure this funding. Not only will this help ex-offenders find transitional employment, helping to reduce incidences of crime upon release and thereby improving public safety, but it will put them to work improving our neighborhoods and help them stay on the right path. I applaud the Flint Downtown Weed & Seed for their important work to prevent crime and revitalize our communities and I am proud to support them in that effort,” said Congressman Kildee.
Flint Downtown District Weed and Seed Site Director John C. McGarry said: "this funding will provide a second chance for returning ex-offenders to become productive members of society, while at the same time earning a modest paycheck and increasing their long-term employment prospects."
The 2010 Michigan Department of Corrections budget included a $150 million cut in prison operations, which will accelerate the parole of over 3,500 inmates statewide by September 30, 2009. Statistics show that approximately two-thirds of released ex-offenders are re-arrested, presenting a challenge to local communities.
To help deal with this problem, the Flint Downtown Weed & Seed will provide ex-offenders with transitional employment that will benefit the community. In coordination with New Paths, Inc. and other local organizations including the Genesee County Land Bank, ex-offenders will gain useful job skills cleaning up blighted neighborhoods in Flint, and will learn crucial employability skills that will assist them to successfully transition into unsubsidized employment.
This project is expected to increase public safety through reduced crime rates and the elimination of blighted properties, reduce recidivism by 60 percent and provide jobs for at least 75-125 ex-offenders over the next 24 months.
