The Institute for Community Justice is a Philadelphia-based national initiative committed to community justice: the community-inspired, community-led solutions for healing in a time of mass imprisonment.
The Institute for Community Justice was founded as part of Philadelphia FIGHT’s commitment to locally-rooted, national work to reduce not only the number of people in prison living with HIV, but also the lasting effects of mass imprisonment on communities most affected.
Through research and advocacy, we work to amplify existing best practices,
push for needed policy change, and realize our vision for community-led transformative justice. In working towards these goals, we are dedicated to the following programs:
Project TEACH Outside
Treatment Education Activists Combating HIV!
Project TEACH Outside is a 5 week long educational and activist training course designed for individuals living with HIV who have been recently released from prison or jail. Topics include living healthy with HIV, basic HIV treatment information, strategies for rebuilding our lives after imprisonment, stress management and wellness, accessing supportive services and AIDS and prison activism.
TEACH Outside starts soon! See more information and an application for the class or call Naseem Bazargan at 215-525-0460 x417.
Enhancing Linkages Project
Philadelphia FIGHT, in partnership with Action AIDS and the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research at the University of Pennsylvania, is working to increase capacity and enhance coordination of services for people living with HIV/AIDS within the Philadelphia Prison System and once released through a Healthcare Linkage Program. FIGHT offers Care Outreach services to individuals living with HIV and who are imprisoned within the Philadelphia Prison System. Care Outreach workers are available for advocacy, support, education, and linkages to medical care and supportive services upon release. FIGHT’s Jonathan Lax Treatment Center offers expedited medical appointments for individuals returning home from jail. Case management, mental health and drug and alcohol treatment is also available.
The Enhancing Linkages to HIV Primary Care and Services in Jail Settings Initiative is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB), Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. To learn more about our Enhancing Linkages Project, visit the project website:http://enhancelink.org/sites/HivJailStudy/default.aspx
Contact Hannah Zellman at 215-525-0460 x402 or zellman@fight.org for more information.
TITO: TEACH Inside/TEACH Outside
A 2005 study by Rucker Johnson and Steven Raphael found that the link among prisons, race and HIV is so strong that it almost entirely explains the disproportionate impact of HIV in the Black community.
The founding vision of TEACH Inside/TEACH Outside is that we can change this. TEACH Inside/TEACH Outside is an empowerment and mutual support intervention designed not only to reduce individuals’ risk of contracting HIV, but also to transform the structures that increase community-level HIV vulnerability. Our curriculum is organized around four key messages:
- You can live a healthy life,
- Services are available to support you,
- Activist work has put this in place, and
- You can be an activist for yourself and your community.
TEACH Inside/TEACH Outside is conducted in partnership with our allies at the University of Pennsylvania, Jeff Draine and Philippe Bourgois.
Contact Theresa Sullivan at 215-525-0460 x409 or tsullivan@fight.org for more information.
Reentry Center
When someone goes to prison, the whole community is affected. Community struggles do not stop when loved ones come home. Once released, people will face difficulties accessing the support they need to move forward and make new lives. At our Reentry Center, we work to engage and empower all individuals returning home from prison. Our reentry counselors, case managers and care outreach workers walk with people through the difficult process of finding housing, obtaining employment and reuniting with their families.
In addition, our staff coordinates skills-building and educational programs focused around job training, continuing education, as well as art and creative expression. Our drop in center is a hub for reentry support – come and visit us in our drop in!
We also host meetings for area prison justice organizations, so that all at our center can connect with activist work that helps them build the futures they want to live.
Support Center for Prison Advocacy
United around the slogan ‘Community Organizing is a Reentry Program,’ the Support Center for Prison Advocacy was founded to reduce HIV vulnerability by building the leadership of people who are formerly imprisoned and their families in organizing their own neighborhood communities. With efforts already underway in North, South and West Philadelphia, the Support Center for Prison Advocacy aims to create a city-wide resource center without walls.
Prison Health News
Prison Health News is a quarterly newsletter written by and for people who have been in prison or are currently living behind the walls. Spanning topics on medical updates, health care advocacy tips and mutual support, Prison Health News works to build community across the prison walls that divide us.
Prison Health News is produced by a Philadelphia-based collective of writers and editors, most of whom have been in prison and are living with HIV, and includes the work of imprisoned artists and writers.
To download PDFs of PHN or to subscribe, click here.
CONTACT
For more information about ICJ’s programs and services, please contact:
Hannah Zellman, MSW, Director
Phone: 215.525.0460 x402
Email: zellman@fight.org
Theresa Sullivan, MSW, TITO/IPSI Program Manager
Phone: Phone:215.525.0460 x409 Cell: 267.205.6558
Email: tsullivan@fight.org
Kathy Totoki, MSW Curriculum Development Coordinator
Phone: 215.525.0460 x408 Cell: 267.205.8112
Email: ktotoki@fight.org
Omar Shabazz, TITO Program Instructor
Phone: 215.525.0460 x404 Cell: 267.243.5497
Email: oshabazz@fight.org
Naseem Bazargan, MPH, TEACH Outside Coordinator
Phone: 215.525.0460 x417
Email: nbazargan@fight.org
LuQman Abdullah, Prison Outreach Specialist
Phone: 215.525.0460 x403
Email: labdullah@fight.org
Teresa Sullivan, TEACH Outside Class Assistant/ Peer Outreach Specialist
Phone: 215.525.0460 x405
Email: teresa@fight.org
Tre Alexander, Prison Care Outreach Specialist
Phone: 215.525.0460 x406
Email: talenxander@fight.org
Rysheen Caldwell, TITO Outreach Worker
Phone: 215.525.0460 x408
Email: rcaldwell@fight.org
Herman Sams, IPSI Outreach Worker
Phone: 215.525.0460 x409
Email: hsams@fight.org
Maxine Krenzel, Administrative Assistant
Phone: 215.525.0460 x400
Email: mkrenzel@fight.org
Support Center for Prison Advocacy
Phone: 215.525.0460 x410
Email: SCPA@fight.org
Computer Classes
Mendal Polish, Digital Literacy Trainer
Phone: 215.525.0460 x413
Email: mpolish@fight.org
Computer Lab Hours
Tuesday: 1-5 PM
Wednesday: 1-5 PM
Thursday: 1-5 PM
Friday: 2-5 PM
Kingdom Care Reentry Network – Faith Based Reentry Mentoring & Peaceful Surrender
Phone: 215.525.0460 x412
For More Information: Send us a question or request more information on any of our services.