Support Re-Entry for Our Employees
At Karnage Construction one of the many things we do differently is hire queer, trans, houseless or housing insecure, and incarcerated or recently incarcerated individuals.
Currently we have 3 employees who were recently released, as well as folks with prior housing instability/houselessness and folks in recovery. The support systems in our society are, um, lacking to say the least, and we at Karnage are only able to do but so much.
We are working on connecting these folks with all of the community resources we can find. Re-entry for folks who have been incarcerated is difficult at best. Most of our folks are connected with great nonprofits like OAR, and also social services such as EBT and Medicaid as best they can. But there are plenty of things they need but do not have- imagine being plopped down at the age of 40 with nothing but a backpack of clothing essentially. Or losing most of your belongings due to housing costs or time spent in recovery group homes. We pay our employees all $20 an hour as a starting wage, but even that is hard to live off of these days, especially when you have to start from scratch.
Additionally, folks dealing with high stress situations like reentry, recovery, etc. are often dealing with PTSD and CPTSD. We figure anything we can help facilitate to make their lives a little bit easier and less stressful is the way to go. It is a lot easier to stay sober and stay out of trouble when you have the right clothes to wear and enough food to eat and something a little fun too.
We asked these folks what they need and want and they were reluctant to give us any type of a list. We managed to get a few answers from them, but they were really quite shy to ask for anything at all.
If you are able to purchase any of these items and bring them to Karnage Construction or By Any Beans Necessary between now and December 21st, it would be pretty special for them to receive some gifts from the larger community.
Some of them have a degree of support from family and friends, and some do not. Some are living in group homes per probation requirements and some are not. The eventual transition from a group home to their own place is another juncture we worry about, and we welcome insight from others as to how we could best support them in getting there successfully.
Things they could use to help with lunches:
Insulated coolers or lunch bags (smallish not gigantic)
Ziploc baggies for sandwiches and snacks
Re-usable ice packs
Tupperware
travel coffee mug
thermos
Single portion food items for lunch
Microwaveable breakfast and lunch items
Nonperishable foods that are soft enough to eat when needing but lacking dentures.
Apple sauce cups
Fruit cups
Canned soups and chilis
Canned baked beans
Macaroni and cheese – microwave cups and regular
Bottled water, sparkling water, juices, sodas
Crackers and chips
Sandwich making supplies- condiments, maybe cheese and other not super perishable items?
Candy of any sort - but especially chocolate
Clothing they need:
Winter socks – Large and XL up to 13 if possible
Winter jackets for work – Carharrt or similar style would be ideal -Large, Large, Xtra Large sizes needed
L and XL long sleeve shirts
L and XL T-shirts
L and XL undershirts
Size 38 jeans
Size 38 Carhartt or Dickies or similar work pants
Size 40 work pants
belts
Size 13 Steel toed boots
Size 11 Steel toed boots
Size 9 Steel toed boots
winter hats and gloves
Rain gear- rain coats, umbrellas
Size 13, 11, and 9 tennis shoes and slides
Hygiene products they need:
Body wash- any type
Deodorant - any type
Makeup – she does not know what type she likes yet, it has been 20+ years, dark complexion.
Razors
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, mouth wash
Soap
New towels and wash cloths
Other items they said they want or need:
duffel bags
pillow and pillow case
straight claw hammer
tool belt
measuring tape
screwdriver set
box knife
kleins
dewalt drill/impact sets
New blankets
new sheets
notebooks
pens/pencils/colored pencils
sketchpads
laundry detergent
gift cards
batteries
phone chargers
Anything that they do not want that we get we will either save it for future employees or donate it to OAR.
These folks all read this ask, and are good with sending this request out to the community and want to say thank you in advance to anyone who might support them in this or other ways.
Sincerely, Karnage Construction Crew
