Post-release programmes
The Collective
Released life convicts face stigma and unacceptability post-release and at times are not welcomed back into their families. Even when they are allowed back, released convicts have tough social barriers to break before they can even start their new lives after serving their time.
TJI’s Collective serves as a support group for released life convicts as they learn to navigate these challenges. TJI team anchors the Collective, by facilitating regular telephonic conversations, in-person visits to the homes of the members of the Collective, providing psycho-social support, emergency support and regular meetings with all the members to check on their well-being.
We use a 4-part approach for the Collective: Peer group support, Processes towards wholeness, Platforms for expression and Progress towards fullness.
As a first step along the journey of a life post-release, TJI has formed and facilitates a peer group of released men and women to build a camaraderie and create connects that enable them to share, care and grow together out of their common lived experiences. TJI team along with peers from the group visit their homes to create this connect.
Periodic coming together of the Collective for a simple outing within their regions or at alternate common places away from the regular routines, engaging in simple activities such as rendering beauty parlour services for each other, participating in activities such as dance, theatre, or any other such medium built towards initiating healing and wholeness, is an integral part of the processes towards wholeness.
An item of creativity, such as quilling, embroidery, a rangoli outside their homes accompanied by a story, a narrative, a drawing, a letter to someone very dear, an audio recording, painting, a note to the peers in the group stating the best of who they are, etc. are the myriad range of platforms for expression to enable them to begin sharing, unburdening and shedding the weight of the past, while making the present both joyful and meaningful.
A thorough documentation of individuals, regular analysis of their progress, reviewing the needs and challenges and accommodating the same will ensure close mentoring support and progress towards fullness.
The Guest Centre
A 1 bedroom-kitchen space, the Guest Centre is TJI’s dream project. Temporarily, the Guest Centre serves as a space for released women convicts to access in times of distress or for group meetings for the Collective.
In the long-term, TJI is working towards raising funds to create a half-way home for women released convicts, enabling a more supportive reintegration. The half-way home will allow TJI to provide more structured support to these women, especially in securing jobs and building bridges with their families.
Echoes
TJI encourages released convicts towards storytelling as a means for cathartic transformation post their release from prison as well as to inspire and give hope to others who are still in prison. As is true for all are programs, women have free will in choosing to share their stories through Echoes.
These stories will be documented in the released convicts’s voices and be published for larger distribution to raise awareness on the released convicts, the gender-specific challenges they face and the need for societal and community acceptance of released convicts.
Our design for Echoes includes
- An audio-visual narrative of released convicts, their families, children, neighbourhoods and communities.
- A photo-journal/coffee table book capturing lives as they are being lived along with narratives, anecdotes, quotes, etc.
- Prose, poems, writings expressed and published across various formats such as blogs, magazines, etc.
- Drawings, sketches, paintings, for all whose medium of expression is through paint and brush.
- Song, dance, theatre, plays, music that lends the note and tune to the melodies of their lives.
- Any form of artistic creations, accompanied by the synopsis, anecdotes, quotes from the lives that brought forth that creation.
