Wells Fargo has committed to donating $60 million to a nonprofit organization that focuses on preventing people who were formerly incarcerated from committing crimes after their release and returning to prison.
The nonprofit, Concordance, issued a press release about the anti-recidivism initiative to support justice-involved participants’ efforts to develop work skills, increase chances of employability, improve their financial stability and restore and maintain their health.
Officials called the increased funding “transformative” in hastening plans to launch 40 new “healing first” facilities nationwide during the next eight years. Concordance spent three years researching causes of recidivism, the release stated, and determined that people who commit crimes after release from prison were grappling with problems that included traumatic childhood events, misuse and abuse of substances and mental health disorders. The healing first approach addresses the effects of those circumstances and illnesses. The Wells Fargo donation will enable Concordance to expand to South Carolina and open a facility in the Greenville-Spartanburg area in 2024, according to the press release.
The program stands to be particularly beneficial for people of color. The Prison Policy Initiative estimates that more than a million people are in state prisons, and roughly 60% of them are Black or Hispanic. Seventy-one percent of those individuals will be re-arrested within three to five years of their release after committing additional offenses and will be imprisoned on average seven times in their lifetimes.
“Our evidence-based model breaks the generational cycle of crime, transforms communities, and changes racial equity for the better,” said Concordance’s chairman and CEO, Danny Ludeman. “It’s a holistic program that provides a structured pathway for successful re-entry into society and lowers crime and reincarceration rates in the process.”
Ludeman, a former CEO of Wells Fargo Advisors, founded Concordance in 2015.
David Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technology, the largest Black-owned business in the United States, said its partnership with Concordance and Wells Fargo could reduce crime, rebuild families and ease the burden on the government’s resources.
Every new Concordance center receives the required technology and services from World Wide Technology, which also supports employment education and training.
“I have witnessed Concordance’s success, especially within Black and brown communities,” added Steward.
Concordance’s 18-month program starts when inmates leave prison and targets the fundamental reasons for recidivism through mental and behavioral health treatment, substance use treatment, education and job training.
“Wells Fargo is committed to strengthening underserved communities and building a more inclusive economy,” said Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf. “Concordance’s mission of helping people build a new life and learn lasting financial skills aligns well with our desire to have a positive community impact.”
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