A letter from Jeff Brudge

Very important ! Más importante !

We just received a letter from one of our students, Jeff, who found a job just weeks after his release from prison ! We are very excited, and would like to share his letter with you (first, we got his person, but he didnt care!).

"Dear Miss. Erika and the rest of the English 304 Community Project,

First I would like to thank you all again for your help with helping us build our resumes and cover letters. I didn't know I was that smart! You all made me realize my full potential, and made me believe in myself again. I never thought I would get off the streets, but I saw the best in myself and knew I really needed to get my act together. Prison is not the place for me and I'm not ever going back!

Now, I know this is something you all are going to be really happy about. I got myself a job ! I'm working as kitchen prep and dishwasher at a local restaurant in Morgantown. They told me I'm doing really well, and maybe here in a few weeks I will be able to get on the line and start preparing some dishes. This set a spark off inside me. I thought maybe if I can save myself some money, I could maybe get myself into some type of cooking school and really do something with my life. It's never too late to start ! Hey, I'm only 35, I got the rest of my life ahead of me.

Again, thank you so much for all of your assistance. If it wasn't for you all, I don't know where I would be. But, it probably wouldn't be where I am now, and I really can't thank you enough. Maybe I'll be cooking meals for you all one day! I will keep in touch with you all and my progress. I hope I can be a role model for other inmates that are hoping to find a job.

Sincerely,
Jeff Brudge"

Our final week together

We have reached the final week of our 6 week program. Our students excelled in putting together their first cover letters and resumes. Not only have they perfected their first documents, but their English had also improved; an d some of them even improved on their reading and writing skills. Many of them had also never used a computer before, which was at times a difficult task, and was a lot to learn at once. However, since they were really willing to learn, using the computer was an exciting time for them in our program.

We have some of our students being released from the Morgantown Jail within the next couple weeks, so hopefully we will have some good news for our readers about the success that our program has brought to them.

Here at English 304 Community Education , we are hoping to extend our program throughout the years considering we believe that this will be highly successful in finding these inmates jobs ; in turn, reducing the rate of recidivism.

A Great Update!

So far, our program is going great.  Right now, we are in week three of our program and the inmates are really learning skills that will help them in the future.  It took a good bit of time to properly construct their cover letters, but now the majority of them are getting on the right track.

Their attitudes, for the most part, are very optimistic and they are happy with the help they are getting with the help of our volunteers.  After the first blog post, I received multiple e-mails and phone calls from people who were willing to help us; and help the the students.  We just wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who has volunteered their time to make our program that much stronger!

Starting next week, we will be finishing up with their cover letters, and begin to start writing resume`s. And again, if you would like to help us out we would appreciate any amount of time you could lend to us! Contact Erika at 304-345-6789, or contact via e-mail emong@eng304.net

Why is this a good idea, you ask?

With the economy being the way it is, not only is it hard for your everyday American to find a job; but it is even harder for a person with a criminal background.  For this reason, it is common for these people to re-offend because they can't afford to live in the real world.  It is sad, but true.  It costs approximately $30,000 dollars a year for each prisoner that is housed in the jail.  

With this being said, if we give the inmates the desire to work by teaching them how to properly obtain a job, they aren't as likely to re-offend.  In return, this is good for us because every ex-offender who finds themselves a job and doesn't return to jail saves us taxpayers A LOT of money.

Project Details

Hello and welcome to the blog of the non-profit organization- English 304 Community Education.  We are a program that helps inmates at the Federal Correctional Institution of Morgantown, the minimum security federal prison, recieve jobs upon their release back into society.

Just recently, we received a grant that allowed us to purchase six computers for the students; to help them produce cover letters and resume`s.  Dr. Robert Reibold, who is a retired Economics teacher from West Virginia University, is volunteering his time to help the students construct these documents.  He worked for the  University for 25 years, and was obtained many teaching awards throughout his career.

One goal that we have in our program is to increase their literacy and improve their ability of speaking English.
Our goals that we have here are to help reduce the rate of recidivism, and help these inmates get back into their everyday routine in the workforce upon release from prison.  We also would like to see an increase in their reading and writing skills from the beginning to end of the program.  Overall, our main goal is to see a 60% job placement within two months after their exit from jail.

This is an ongoing project, and we always need as much help and volunteers as possible.  If you would like to volunteer your time, English 304 Community Education would gladly accept your offer.  To contact us, call Erika at 304-345-6789, or contact via e-mail emong@eng304.net