2020 ANNUAL REPORT

A Year for the Books.

What’s in a name?

Remnant: something small and oftentimes, leftover or forgotten.

Initiative: an action, often a preliminary action to get something moving forward.

So, Remnant + Initiatives = small actions (as a basic definition).

If we think of our returning citizens as scraps society has thrown away when we put them behind bars, then we can see that Remnant Initiatives are the actions we take to sew those people back into the fabric of our community.

We believe that returning citizens need to take small steps in the right direction to eventually be fully integrated back into our communities.

We believe that community members need to take small steps toward reintegrating our returning citizens so we can all enjoy safer, healthier neighborhoods.

We believe the work we do at Remnant Initiatives is like sewing those throw away pieces back into the quilt of our rich and diverse Yamhill Valley neighborhoods.

How does Remnant Initiatives (RI) support our returning neighbors?

1

We remove critical barriers to success for our neighbors-in-transition (NIT) in early release.

2

We build pro-social community over time.

3

We advocate for positive change in the criminal justice system.

4

We educate the public on WHY they should care about successful reentry.

The leadership team at RI would say that we serve every citizen in our Yamhill Valley neighborhoods as we focus our work on helping NITs to be successful after release from prison.

Every citizen benefits from...

• improved public safety

• decreased utilization of public assistance

• improved health and well-being of our most vulnerable neighbors

In an effort to get closer to those realities, our work is to INSPIRE and COACH community-minded individuals and groups into ACTION that improves our capacity to serve our Yamhill Valley neighbors transitioning from incarceration to mainstream society.

However, with the events of 2020, immense amounts of innovation and collaboration were needed to complete even our most regular activities.

COVID-19 has made our work much more important to public safety and wellbeing.

At the beginning of 2020, our work had great value in ensuring that neighbors-in-transition (NITs) were successful quickly. We have always provided a ride from prison; a visit to their PO’s office and a hot breakfast; a phone and one month of unlimited talk and text service; basic clothing and hygiene products; bus passes and a trip to the DMV to get an ID. 

Today, we are still providing that ride home, but now must borrow a local church van, in order to maintain social distance in the vehicle. Many of volunteers are Covid-vulnerable and no longer assist with this important service, which has increased the burden on our staff, interns, and a smaller pool of volunteers.

At the writing of this report, there were 2,994 Oregon state prisoners who tested positive for the virus—that’s 23% of the 12,989 who are incarcerated in our state. Of those infected, 27 Adults In Custody (AICs) have died. Contrast this to Yamhill County, where only 3% (3,189) have tested positive to date, with 46 total deaths.

Yet release day is release day, and incarcerated people are coming back home to our community whether they have the virus or not.

The pandemic has called RI to go beyond our essential mission to also become an important partner with the Yamhill County Public Health Department to ensure returning neighbors do not bring the virus back from prisons where it is rampant.

Now, we cannot take our new neighbor out for coffee or a meal on release day, but instead, head straight to the Virginia Garcia clinic to have them tested for COVID-19. If they are releasing from a low prevalence facility.

If they are released from a high prevalence facility, then we transport our new neighbor to a hotel or the YCGRM for two weeks of quarantine. During the quarantine our volunteers provide social support over the phone, basic clothing, toiletries, and meals as needed. 

After quarantine is finished, we can then assist our NIT with other essential errands and any help that has been delayed by health department protocols, such as getting settled into housing, getting an ID, and looking for work.

Everything about our processes has become more expensive and more labor intensive during this season of social distancing and business closures.  

Above: The percentage of people who have been re-arrested for a new crime within 2 years of being released from prison. Source: Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, and Remnant Initiatives.

Since early 2018, RI has become an important resource for these folks as they do the hard work of becoming successful, contributing members of society.

As of the end of 2020, we have served 143 people with pre-release planning and coordination, 121 of those folks have released to the community, with 25% who have been successfully reintegrated. In three years, only 9% have been arrested for a new crime and 66% are still being served.

In contrast, the county’s two-year recidivism arrest rate sits at just under 44% for people releasing to our neighborhoods.

Our work makes a difference! 

Everything we do at Remnant Initiatives connects back to making our neighborhoods healthier, safer environments for all of our community members.

As a small, local non-profit, we rely on the contributions of donors large and small to continue our work. The percentages below demonstrate how much of our work is tied to community support.

We could not do our work without collaborating with a myriad of community partners. It really does take a village to help a returning neighbor to be successful. Thus, we are so grateful for our partners.

Yamhill County Health and Human Services, the Department of Community Justice, Willamette Workforce Partnership, St. Barnabas, YCCO, Virginia Garcia, Provoking Hope, First Federal Savings and Loan, George Fox University, Portland State University, Linfield University, Champion Team, HAYC, North Valley Friends Church, Lutheran Community Services, Love INC, YCAP, Helping Hands, OXFORD House, Blanchet Farms, Yamhill County Gospel Rescue Mission, Northwest Christian Church, 2nd Street Drop in Center, St Peter'sCatholic Church, Celebrate Recovery, Dayton Food Pantry, Dayton Clothing Closet, Church on the Hill Food and Clothing Pantry, Travelodge and Best Western-Newberg, 4-Elements Yoga, Ricochet Wine Company, Chehalem Valley Innovation Accelerator, Newberg FISH

Our work increased in difficulty this year, but it also increased in impact. We will continue to improve re-entry in Yamhill County and in doing so help create safer, healthier communities, one neighbor at a time.

See you in 2021!