Fighting Injustice Standing Together

08/05/2020

FIST is a program selected for the Harvard Kennedy School Cheng Fellowship with the Social Innovation and Change Initiative. One of our team members is a master's student at HKS, and will be presenting our innovative approach to serving formerly incarcerated individuals.
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Developing research, pedagogical content, and educational programs that help students, social innovators, and organizations around the world.

07/23/2020

Nothing worth having is totally free... but it won't cost as much as you think. It will require resources, time, and effort. Do we have an obligation to correct inequities in the environment that have nothing to do with the individual?

Harvard's Dr. Robert Livingston asks what we can do to move the needle on social justice. How do we create profound and sustainable progress? He uses the P-R-E-S-S model.

07/22/2020

What are your thoughts on Ban the Box? UC Berkeley's Sandra Susan Smith is leading research on the topic. Studies have shown that for Black and Latino demographics, BTB may actually be making private-sector employment more difficult. Without the box, many private-sector employers tend to just assume the worst up front. Additionally, even in BTB localities, employer discrimination is still prevalent throughout various steps the process (see graph below). Many private-sector employers just blatantly ignore BTB laws.

However, for White formerly incarcerated individuals, BTB has shown to make a very big difference by giving them a chance to get their foot in the door, and mandating an opportunity be given to them to respond to background check results. And in public sector jobs, BTB is making a positive difference overall (for all demographics).

Sandra also discusses that training and individual-attention being given to formerly incarcerated individuals increases their likelihood of obtaining jobs, and encourages them to not give up. Programs that show support, and make formerly incarcerated individuals more competitive for jobs create a huge difference. That lines up well with the overall support architecture you can find at www.FISTdc.org/services

07/13/2020

A few month ago I was contacted by a dear friend who was looking for assistance for a fellow friend of hers, who would be released from prison. The two of us put our heads together, and I was able to obtain the assistance of someone who lives in Florida, and could correspond with the incarcerated woman directly. After several long months of careful planning and persistence, this young lady was released yesterday. Welcome home. I know you will be successful. You have a whole team behind you. A big thank you to for helping out and setting this young woman up for success!!

01/26/2020

Saturday nights are for building resumes with our clients. Fighting Injustice Standing Together offers returning-citizens free customized resumes tailored by professionals volunteering their time.

12/26/2019

Fighting Injustice Standing Together, also referred to as FIST, is preparing to provide in-prison and post-prison services to include, but not limited to, written language and art therapy (primarily poetry), resume writing, goal setting workshops, certification of completing the FIST program, job searching and training, a 24/7 online listening and support hotline, care packages with clothing and living resources, a photoshoot for business application profiles, transportation, on-going mentoring, job and healthy-living conferences, and personalized support for women in the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women and other prisons in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. Furthermore, FIST will also provide training for businesses on how to support returning citizens.

12/26/2019

In October, my cousin and I sent an 80 page 1023 package to the IRS seeking 501(c)(3) status. We finally got word... we're an official non-profit. We can't wait to transform returning-citizens into community leaders with a voice.