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8/25/16, 12:34 PMCollege Unbound program celebrates anniversary, receives $1.2M in grants - Providence Business News
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College Unbound programcelebrates anniversary, receives$1.2M in grants
ONE YEAR AFTER ITS FOUNDING, College Unbound celebrated the participation of 75 incarceratedmen and women in Rhode Island in its Prison Bridge Program. Discussing programming for CollegeUnbound in the fall are, from left, Dennis Littky, president, Leann Heath, faculty adviser, and JamesMonteiro, executive director of the Prison Bridge Program. PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNOBy Emily Gowdey-Backus (mailto:[email protected]) PBN Staff WriterTwitter: @FlashGowdey (http://twitter.com/FlashGowdey)
7/8/16
PROVIDENCE – Seventy-five incarcerated men and women in Rhode Island’s AdultCorrectional Institutions have participated in the inaugural year of College Unbound’sPrison Bridge Program, designed to help inmates receive their bachelor’s degree so thatonce released they will have a smoother transition into society.
Dennis Littky, College Unbound president, said he is excited to offer a bachelor’s degreeprogram focused on adult learners.
8/25/16, 12:34 PMCollege Unbound program celebrates anniversary, receives $1.2M in grants - Providence Business News
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He added: “The Prison Bridge Program is a perfect example of how a program can be builtaround students’ needs.”
The program, which began one year ago with 50 participants, has garnered nationalattention, receiving an $800,000 grant from the ECMC foundation for work in the ACIbuilding College Unbound as well as a forthcoming $400,000 grant from the LuminaFoundation for the Prison Bridge Program, which will be awarded in the coming months.
Last spring College Unbound was approved as an official Rhode Island college to serve themore than 110,000 Rhode Islanders who had begun a bachelor’s degree, but nevercompleted their studies. The Prison Bridge Program, which targets the underserved adultlearner, was simultaneously commenced with College Unbound by James Monteiro, theprogram’s founder and executive director. The Prison Bridge curriculum is embedded inthe support system available to ex-offenders after release in the hope that these men andwomen can complete their bachelor’s degree while transitioning into mainstream society.
Monteiro expects the number of participants to exceed 100 by September.
“If we wanted to double our numbers inside the prison tomorrow we could, but there isnot enough classroom space to do so. There is a waiting list for our program,” he said ofthe challenge to meet the demand.
On Sept. 21, College Unbound will host a Re-entry Symposium at Providence’s Met Schoolfocusing on how Rhode Island can become the leader in the education of incarcerated menand women. Doug Wood, of the Ford Foundation, will serve as keynote speaker.
