Providing a path for the formerly incarcerated

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

A local organization aimed at providing help to people transitioning from lives in prison back into being productive members of society continues to forge ahead with its mission, including throwing a fundraising gala to continue to support its work.

The Louisiana Council of Resources (LaCOR) centers on providing support services to justice-involved formerly incarcerated persons who have recently been released from prison or jail and are looking for stable employment, housing and transportation, said Dr. Raymond Delaney, LaCOR president and CEO.

“We focus on providing housing and case-management services as they transition [into the community],” Delaney said. “We try to provide them with a stable environment for a short-term period.”

Delaney said LaCOR attempts to serve demographics – such as LGBTQI individuals, military veterans, those with mental illness who are controlling their disorders and persons with HIV/AIDS – who might be particularly vulnerable to a relapse into crime or other serious roadblocks to re-integration into society.

“We try to focus on areas that will help them more sustainably live on their own and prevent them from going back to jail,” Delaney told The Louisiana Weekly last week.

Those services include coaching on job attainment through resume building, interpersonal skills, interviewing techniques and successful job-searching.

Delaney said LACOR, which is a relatively new organization, also helps previously-incarcerated people in developing financial management skills, such as how to save money, find the right banking institution and create stable housing arrangements. He said that while LaCOR does provide a temporary residence for up to 16 people at its own halfway house facilities, the bulk of the group’s efforts concentrate on helping at-risk populations live on their own in a stable, sustainable way.

“We might not be able to help them with immediate housing, but we do help them search for housing based on the person’s resources,” Delaney said.

He added that the organization wants to assist the previously-incarcerated populations long-term employment situations that they truly enjoy and want to pursue for the rest of their lives. Delaney said most of the people helped by LaCOR are able to find stable employment within 15 to 20 days of their release from jail or prison.

“They don’t want just jobs,” he said. “They want careers.”

Delaney said LaCOR can provide such services for up to 75 to 100 persons. He added that a crucial facet of its effort is the participation of such financial institutions as Gulf Coast Bank and Regions Bank. “The business community has to step up and come to the table and communicate with us,” Delaney said of partnerships with private companies.

This article originally published in the December 2, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.