To improve public safety by restoring former offenders to productive roles in society through training, counseling and education programs that remove the barriers to meaningful employment and that teach skills for today's workforce.
History
Chattanooga Endeavors came about from a demonstration project of Dismas House funded by the Private Industry Council (1997-2001). Faced with a steady increase in the number of felons returning from prison to the Chattanooga area, the goal of this project was to expand our capacity to meet the growing demand for reentry services without adding substantially to the cost of services.
By opening up some services to former offenders who were not in residence at Dismas House, we were able to immediately increase our capacity from 20 a year to 200. Moreover, our cost of services fell from $9,000 apiece to under $2,000 with no corresponding reduction in quality.
Although room and board are pressing issues for some, they are nowhere near the main concern for most coming home from prison – employment is! Following a successful demonstration, therefore, the Dismas House board decided on an ambitious restructuring of its organization in Chattanooga to provide job preparation and job placement services to former offenders instead of just shelter.
Timeline
1997 Develops job preparation pilot
1998 First Community Building Workshop
1999 Severs relationship with Dismas
2000 Receives federal funding
2001 Closes half-way house
2003 Establishes earned income strategy
2004 Creates plan for staffing enterprise
Establishes Reentry Roundtable
2005 Receives funds for CEi Works
2008 Establishes Stephens’ Table
Because the national Dismas organization declined to expand its mission to include these new services, we severed ties with that organization in 1999 and formed a new nonprofit called “Chattanooga Endeavors, Inc.” The name signifies its separate identity, its exclusive focus upon the Chattanooga area and a shift in emphasis from housing to economic initiative.
Since that time, Chattanooga Endeavors – or “CEi” as it is known – has continued to expand its program to address the special needs of former offenders and is now recognized as a leader in the field of prisoner reentry both locally and throughout Tennessee.
