Food Pantry
In an effort to fight hunger BIG SIS, Inc. has partnered with The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and opened a Food Pantry. The Food Pantry will open for distribution in early December. Food will be distributed to those in need on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month from 10am - 2pm.
Case Management/Advocacy Program
BIG SIS will have a Family Advocate to work specifically with mothers and their children, and a Client Advocate who works with the single women. Through weekly meetings, the Advocates assist clients in prioritizing goals, linking with community resources and reviewing each woman's progress. Goals are established by each woman and are individualized according to her needs and choices. These may include:
- Completing a GED
- Enrolling in classes to accomplish educational goals
- Participating in job training
- Securing a job
- Completing a recovery program (if there is a substance abuse issue)
- Paying off debts
- Saving money for permanent housing
Referrals and coordination of services will also be provided for the following, among others:
- Medical needs
- Childcare
- Financial assistance
- Various housing programs and options
- Educational opportunities
- Counseling services
We recognize that each woman's long-term goal is to acquire employment and a permanent home with sufficient means to sustain it. We know that the road to that goal will vary for each woman, as will the time it will take for her to achieve it. The Advocates provide the assistance and support to help map out the route and help each woman arrive at her destination in the time that works best for her.
Seminars/Workshops
Seminars/Workshops are held to provide a forum for women to exchange ideas and wisdom, learn about community resources from invited speakers, and help build and share a sense of community.
RECLAIM Program
One of the major programs that BIG SIS is developing is the RECLAIM Program which stands for Reintegrating Educating & Cultivating the Lives of Adolescents Individuals and Mothers. This program provides services to women recently released from incarceration that assists them with successful reintegration into society. We recognized that there are very few services available to formerly incarcerated women, to help them make a successful transition back into life. THIS PROGRAM helps reduce the burden on state agencies, contribute to community development, and reduce the recidivism rate by helping formerly incarcerated and at-risk women become successful participants in society. This is accomplished by helping women regain custody of their children, providing job skills training and employment placement, temporary housing, and other support services (counseling, legal assistance, specialized training, self-esteem building, etc.) as needed. Through these services, formerly incarcerated women develop increased levels of self-esteem while working toward economic independence.
Women represent the fastest growing population in prison. In the last decade, the growth rate for the female prison population increased approximately 313%, compared to 182% for men in the same period. Incarcerated women are overwhelmingly poor. The female ex-offender is often chemically dependent, batter and abused, uneducated, unemployed or has children under the age of 18. (National Women's Law Center, Washington, D.C., and Chicago Legal Aid to Incarcerated Mothers) Out of the 67 counties in Florida, Orange County is ranked number 4 in the amount of female prisoners that are released to that area each year. (FL DOC Offender release reports 2000-present) This is even more than Miami-Dade which is the largest county in the state. These women are released with no job, no family, no support system and nowhere to go. There are very few organizations in the central Florida area that provide comprehensive services to address the unique transitional needs that these women are faced with.
If these women have any chance of succeeding in society there needs to be a program in place that is comprehensive in nature, some middle ground to help change years of negative behavior patterns and dysfunctional lifestyles. Female inmates’ needs are different from those of their male counterparts and this is especially true for transition issues. RECLAIM addresses issues that affect women disproportionately such as intermediate housing, parenting, job training, budget counseling and other services aimed at empowerment and self esteem building. RECLAIM bridges the gaps between preexisting community services. Our ultimate goal is to help women become self-sufficient and recreate lives of stability for themselves and their children. By empowering and educating these women we create positive change in their lives and the community in which they live by reducing the rate of recidivism, breaking the cycle of family dysfunction and changing the image that society has of the female offender. AWARE Teen Summer Camp
This is a summer camp for teenage girls (ages 12-17) geared toward the reinforcement of positive values and encourage girls to resist social pressures through a self-esteem building adventure. The Goals of this program are to make these girls AWARE of themselves, AWARE of their bodies and AWARE of opportunities that are available to them. This will be accomplished by assisting these young girls in achieving the following objectives: self-Acceptance; self-Worth; self-Analysis; self-Respect; and self-Expression.
HERO Teen Mentoring Program
Helping Everyone Realize Opportunities is the goal of the HERO Teen Mentoring Program. Through this program we will assign mentors to middle school and high school students in the Central Florida Area.
**In addition to the above programs BIG SIS will be developing a Juvenile Diversion program for youth offenders in the Ninth Judicial Circuit**