Dismas House Receives $45k grant from The Memorial Foundation

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nov. 8, 2021 - PRLog -- Dismas House, one of the largest reentry programs in Tennessee, announced it has received a $45,000 grant from The Memorial Foundation to expand health and well-being programs for residents. The funds will support internal programming that addresses the often-ignored mental health and substance use disorders support needed by returning citizens.

Dismas House's comprehensive Health and Wellness program for residents addresses and treats co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Within 72 hours of arriving at Dismas House, each returning citizen receives their first individual therapy session. Specifically, each resident receives a minimum of 30 hours of individual and group therapy and 30 hours of relapse prevention programming. If prescribed medication, they will meet with a psychiatrist monthly for medication management and the first 30 days of prescribed medication are provided to residents at no cost.

The Memorial Foundation's mission is to improve the quality of life for people through support to nonprofit organizations. The Memorial Foundation responds to diverse community needs, assisting agencies that focus on: Access to Quality Health Care Services, Human & Social Services, Education, Senior Citizen Enrichment Services, Youth and Childhood Development, Substance Abuse Programs, and as part Community Services.

"In addition to facing tangible barriers to reentry such as finding employment, educational deficits, housing discrimination, and driver's license reinstatement, most of our residents struggle with mental health and substance use disorders. As a result, Dismas House mobilized resources to create a comprehensive Mental Health program that includes weekly individual and group therapy, in-house family therapy and psychiatry through a partnership with Centerstone Tennessee," said Dr. Julie Doochin, Vice President of Programs.

"This grant from The Memorial Foundation will help Dismas House continue to provide holistic, evidence-based programming and services that effectively individualize the needs of every resident. This focus on the whole person is vital in facilitating fundamental change that addresses the root causes of many of the issues that led to incarceration, as well as engendering the stability and emotional wellbeing that is required to successfully integrate and positively contribute to the community."

About Dismas House
Established in 1974 by the late Father Jack Hickey, a Vanderbilt University chaplain, Dismas Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that services formerly incarcerated men. The mission of Dismas House is to improve lives and strengthen communities by providing the formerly incarcerated with holistic reentry programming that breaks the cycle of incarceration. Dismas House is a residential reentry program that serves men returning to the community directly from all state prisons and county jails throughout Tennessee. We have two core programs - our main reentry program with 56 beds and our independent living program with 16 individual housing units.

For more information about Dismas House, visit www.dismas.org.