Award: The P.R.I.D.E. Entrepreneurial Program at the Cheshire T.R.U.E. Unit, by Barry S. Diamond
BEFORE RELEASE IS BETTER THAN AFTER RELEASE
After 6 years of training released inmates after they returned back to their communities “how to go into business for themselves,” we discovered something. Hundreds of students over the years mentioned that they wished that they could have started this training six months to a year before being released. I guess we finally listened and started the first Entrepreneurship training of it’s kind inside the Cheshire Correctional TRUE Unit.
The P.R.I.D.E. PROGRAM sessions are for 90 minutes, once a week for 12 weeks. What makes this program so unique is that we first train each student how to learn before we teach any material. Subjects taught are:
Soft skills, accounting, legal, banking, web-site development, marketing, sales, positive mental attitude, business plan preparation and much more. Service Providers in the Reentry area refer to our program as the famous P.R.I.D.E. PROGRAM. Our first session inside Cheshire Correctional had 21 students. At the end of the session I got a standing ovation. Most of the students shook my hand to thank us for bringing the training to them inside prison before release.
When I got home I was floored when I received in the mail a proclamation from Governor Lamont. We are honored to be recognized as an educational training program that will help people to reenter their communities with the ability to financially support themselves.
For further information about the program or how to sponsor some of the training sessions:
Barry S. Diamond, Executive Director
203-767-4090
