MISSION
Chattanooga Endeavors operates on the simple belief that everyone deserves a second chance. But that’s not always easy to come by for former offenders and their loved ones. Through grassroots outreach and restorative programs, the organization works to provide hope and practical resources for those in prison and their loved ones, with the goal of helping them achieve financial stability and build a better future.
HISTORY
Chattanooga Endeavors traces its roots to Dismas House, a Catholic-based criminal justice initiative. The first Dismas House in Tennessee was opened in Nashville in 1972 by a Dominican priest, says Founding Director Tim Dempsey. Vanderbilt University students managed to obtain a house, where they lived alongside individuals recently released from the state prison. The halfway-house model offered an “organic, natural support system” for those adjusting to life after incarceration.
Dempsey says he had just graduated from the University of Notre Dame and was living in a Dismas House in South Bend, Indiana, when he was invited to Chattanooga. He launched a Dismas project here in 1988, operating out of a two-story brick house at the corner of Willow Street and Bailey Avenue. Chattanooga Endeavors was established in 1999, and the original Dismas House location closed in 2002.
SCOPE
Chattanooga Endeavors works to create second chances for the 350 to 400 Hamilton County residents released from Tennessee state prisons each year, says Executive Director David Chalker. That process begins well before a person’s release: CE engages individuals during their incarceration through newsletters and personal letters written by volunteers.
“At any one time,” Chalker adds, CE can pinpoint not only how many Hamilton Countians are in state custody, but also which facilities they’re in. As release approaches, each person receives a package outlining the resources available to them once they return home.
While many former offenders can follow that “road map” independently, CE is ready to step in whenever support is needed. Dempsey says the organization makes a particular effort to assist individuals with “serious, persistent” mental health challenges who are otherwise “not being served in an organized way.”
DRAWING BOARD
Dempsey and Chalker say CE will continue to rally support for its Employer Declaration, an endorsement of CE programs that “help people pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce has signed the Declaration, Chalker says, as has the Chattanooga-area chapter of the Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM). Dempsey and Chalker say they’re working toward having 150 area businesses sign on.
“It’s better to have someone employed and spending money in Chattanooga than someone who’s not an active part of the workforce,” Dempsey says.
BY THE NUMBERS
4.7: Percentage decrease in Tennesseans in prison from 10 years ago
58.9: Percentage of Tennessee inmates with mental health diagnoses presently
337: Tennessee prisoners who returned to Hamilton County last year
1,037: Hamilton County residents serving prison terms in Tennessee last year
$2,400: Tax credit dollars available for hiring someone recently released from prison