Programs:

Goals:

Develop and provide constructive and appropriate resources to incarcerated persons, formerly incarcerated persons, communities, and youth through No More Tears’s programs. 

Offer positive and effective support to youth and adults who have participated in No More Tears program(s) as they begin the difficult re-entry process.

Provide a vehicle for formerly incarcerated persons to serve their communities as crime and violence prevention advocates, peer counselors, and youth mentors.

Objectives:

1.    Consolidate efforts of interested persons/groups to curtail crime and violence.

2.    Identify creative ways to utilize available resources.

3.    Create a comprehensive plan of empowerment.

4.    Implement programs to help stem violence.

NMT Workshops - Brief Overview:

No More Tears Response to violence workshop series is broken into four quarters.  Each quarter focuses on specific areas that contribute to violent and criminal behavior and provides a forum to empower the individual to learn new life skills, identify resources, and replace negative behavior with positive choices and actions.

Response to Violence: This quarter is designed to identify violence, investigate the causes, the individuals personal triggers, and the impact of violence on the lives of victims, their families, the families of the offender, and the community.

Changing Mindset: Identifies negative and detrimental thinking/behavior and how it affects one’s life.  Provides tools for creating a positive mindset and developing communications skill s to help individuals interact positively with family, employer, parole agents, police, and others.  Incorporates development of conflict resolution skills in personal/family and professional relationships, solving social and economic problems without resorting to violence and/or crime, developing real values vs. situational values.

Employability: Skills assessment; job preparation; resume, application, & interview training; employment connections.  Includes community reintegration, housing/clothing options, transportation information, linking available resources, health awareness.  Incorporates development of conflict resolution skills for the workplace.

Fixin’ da ‘Hood: Commitment to responsible lifestyle. Individual leadership development maintaining credibility and legitimacy in “da ‘Hood.”  Commitment to involvement and availability in the community and being a positive example to those caught up in the streetlife (destructive behaviors). Incorporates development of conflict resolution skills.  How to successfully reconnect with your community.

Peer Counseling:

In addition to the above workshops, members participate in  “Straight Talk” peer counseling sessions as follows:

Straight Talk Session One: Peer-to-peer counseling consultations with individual NMT members, focusing on issues that individual NMT members need to identify, work on and resolve for their personal self-development.

Straight Talk Session Two: Peer-to-peer counseling with individual NMT member’s exploring issues that may impact a member’s successful reintegration into their community.

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