The Stand
How one man’s past led him to create a brighter future for others coming home from prison
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Tag Archives: Charles Rivers
Series: Prison to Family
When Karen Loftin’s mother died, she was in prison. Her prison sentence even took her away from her children when each was learning to walk and talk. Now she has a college degree and a passion for helping others stay out of jail. Loftin’s story is a moving and powerful one about cycles of abuse, the ravages of drug abuse …
Read More »Summer Issue
The Stand’s Summer print issue features Charles Rivers on the cover, who after serving 19 years, 9 months and 4 days in prison, returned to Syracuse in 2012. He now runs PEACE, Inc.’s South Side center and has helped parolees reunite with their families in Syracuse under a $95,000 pilot grant. Currently, PEACE is waiting to see if the grant …
Read More »Challenges to Complete Story on Pilot Program for Family Reunification
Ex-offenders face several barriers in their transition back to society: finding jobs, adequate housing or even obtaining photo identification. So when a new grant was announced to support re-entry locally, I met with the director of the agency in charge to discuss a way to share a deeper understanding on what such support looks like for each participant and what …
Read More »Former Parolees Lead Re-entry Efforts
Charles Rivers and Karen Loftin oversee $95,000 grant to reunite families By lunch time one day last year, Charles Rivers had gone from being a supervised parolee to a welcomed professional in the same office building where hours before one individual held the power to revoke his freedom. “As a parolee, you look at parole as an adversary,” Rivers said. …
Read More »Food for Families
New food pantry offers healthy options every Thursday When the P.E.A.C.E. Inc, South Side Family Resource Center opened its new food pantry a month ago, emphasizing nutritious food, the longtime South Side institution drew one of its biggest crowds ever. Located on Dr. Martin Luther King West, the resource center has been a safe haven for many local residents by providing …
Read More »PEACE Center Reaches Out to Residents
A new era has dawned for people who rely on PEACE Inc.’s family resource center on the South Side. Charles Rivers was named site coordinator at the Emma L. Johnston Southside Family Resource Center in June. And the organization held a reopening ceremony in August. The purpose of the event was to show off renovations at the center, located at …
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