Host Jeremy C. Park talks with Kay Kretsch, CEO of Dismas House, who highlights the organizations 50th Anniversary and their efforts to improve lives and strengthen communities by helping formerly incarcerated individuals reenter society.
During the interview, Kay shares how Dismas House was founded in 1974 by Father Jack Hickey, a Vanderbilt University chaplain, and how the nonprofit organization has grown from originally serving residents from an 8-bed house on Music Row to now offering a comprehensive program that extends beyond housing and employment with a new 72-bed campus that opened in 2020. Kay discusses their Four Pillars of Programming and why those pillars are so critical in helping individuals with their reentry.
Under the Basic Needs pillar, residents receive food, shelter, clothing, cell phone, and transportation. Health & Well-Being addresses individuals’ physical and psychological needs with an emphasis on untreated trauma, reentry adjustment disorder, mental health diagnoses, addiction, and substance use disorders. Assigned case managers assist with reentry plans, tailoring them to each individual using an evidence based assessment tool and helping them prioritize their goals. Life Skills include financial literacy training, technology classes, cooking courses, employment readiness, parenting classes, and interpersonal skills development. Legal Support addresses record expungements, reduction of fines and fees leading prior to applying for driver’s license reinstatement.
Kay then shares a success story and talks about how their efforts are creating a ripple impact in the community by addressing the root causes of incarceration, reducing the recidivism rate, healing relationships and families, and transforming lives by turning challenging pasts into promising futures. She wraps up with ways the community can get involved and support their efforts.
Visit https://dismas.org to learn more and get involved with Dismas House.
https://www.facebook.com/DismasNashville
