Our Mission: create safer communities by providing ex-offenders the opportunity to transform their lives through mentoring, resources, and community partnerships.

It is expected that approximately 400 ex-offenders will be released from state prisons and hundreds from county jails into the central Minnesota communities in 2008. Many of them will not have solid attachments to their families or to the community. To compound the problem, the ex-offender will return to their old neighborhoods where their very presence may threaten to disrupt already fragile households and social structures. Many of them will immediately return to crime to support themselves. Society will always have members of that kind. Others, however, will decide to “go straight.” They will intend to find a good job and start fresh, but find that they have limited prospects for finding a good job or for obtaining an apartment lease. Many of those who want to change will not find the break they need. Consequently, they will also return to a life of crime. They will not avail themselves of community supports and services that might help them turn their lives around and turn a commitment for a crime-free lifestyle into a reality. Statistics show that approximately two out of three returning reincarcerated. As these numbers suggest, without intervention, the majority of ex-offenders will return to criminal activity, contributing further to violence and crime in the Central Minnesota area.

Serving Benton, Douglas, Grant, Kanacec, Kandiyohi, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Otter Tail, Pope, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Todd, Traves, Wadena, and Wilkins counties in Central Minnesota.

Former prisoners need to find housing and work. They need to earn an income and to develop structure and a sense of legitimacy in their lives. Some of them have not only had a criminal record, but they may also face challenges such as unresolved mental health issues, including but limited to substance abuse. Some have educational deficits, which present a significant obstacle to finding and holding a job. Many former offenders have multiple barriers to success. In an effort to address the challenges facing former prisoners and the communities in Central Minnesota, Central MN Re-Entry Project developed and launched a prisoner re-entry program in September 2005. CMNRP modeled after AMICUS, a successful reentry program that serves the twin city seven county metropolitan area of Minneapolis/St. Paul for over 40 years.

CMNRP link returning offenders to people and organizations that provide effective volunteer mentoring, jobs, and hosing in 14 counties in central Minnesota. CMNRP offers ex-offenders the opportunity to participate in a mentoring program at least 120 days prior to their release from prison or jails. CMNRP accesses the likely barriers to successful re-entry and connects the participants to appropriate services to address those barriers.

The CMNRP programs are based on four core principles:
• People can and do change
• All people have value and deserve respect
• Everyone receives judgment-free service
• Our work is relationship-based, person-centered, and responsive to the needs of the individual