Restoring Lives Through Recycling Electronics

Aidan R. Rooney, C.M.
August 5, 2016

Restoring Lives Through Recycling Electronics

by | Aug 5, 2016 | News, Poverty: Analysis and Responses | 2 comments

Two Vincentians: Timothy Lyons, C.M., and Laura Ford, are involved in a process of restoring lives through recycling electronics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-nhEVa0qig

PAR-Recycle Works, a nonprofit organization that responsibly recycles electronic waste, is helping to restore ex-offenders lives by providing them with job training and employment.

Chestnut Hill resident Laura Ford, 66, has worked in prison ministry and helped develop and run reintegration programs for formerly incarcerated men and women for almost 20 years.

“PAR- [People Advancing Reintegration] Recycle Works believes that one of the best crime deterrents is a job. Participants in this program go from costing society thousands of dollars a year to contributing to society.”

According to a report entitled “The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers” conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice and the Pew Center on the States, the Pennsylvania Department of Correction spends roughly $1.6 billion in prison expenditures annually.

The report stated that Pennsylvania incurs an “average annual cost of $42,339” for each inmate.

Ford, who is the PAR-Recycle treasurer, said it is very hard for ex-offenders to find steady, full-time employment. She said thousands of people return from prison to the community every day.

“Recidivism is a huge problem for the whole community,” she said. “It’s everybody’s issue. It’s not just their issue.”

Read the whole story here.

Help them out here.


Tags: Recycling

2 Comments

  1. Bernadette Cronin-Geller

    Ah it is so good to see Laura and Tim’s work lifted up for the whole VINCENTIAN FAMILY to see, hear,and support!

  2. Laura Ford

    Thanks so much for posting this ,Aidan. We are so grateful to have the word of our mission spread to our extended Vincentian family. If anyone wants to contact me directly, you can reach me at : Laura@par-recycleworks.org

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