{"id":45562,"date":"2021-07-28T03:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T03:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-program-at-durangos-soup-kitchen-sets-parolees-up-for-success\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T09:25:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:25:43","slug":"new-program-at-durangos-soup-kitchen-sets-parolees-up-for-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-program-at-durangos-soup-kitchen-sets-parolees-up-for-success\/","title":{"rendered":"New program at Durango\u2019s soup kitchen sets parolees up for success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Manna
Manna soup kitchen has closed its dining room and instead will issue sack lunches and to-go hot meals from 9 to 11 a.m. at the back entrance to the kitchen, located at 1100 Avenida del Sol. Manna is adjusting procedures to minimize the risk of exposure to the coronavirus, COVID-19.<\/span>JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Manna, a Durango soup kitchen, is launching a new program to help Durangoans who have been incarcerated reconnect with their community.<\/p>\n

After being discharged from prison, people often face challenges re-entering daily life, like finding housing and jobs. Manna is hoping to offer them the resources they need to successfully navigate that transition with the help of a $210,000 grant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe help a lot of people in need throughout the community, and we already see people on parole or who have experienced time in jail,\u201d said Ann Morse, Manna\u2019s executive director. \u201cWe understand that there is a huge barrier to re-entry. By having this funding and resources, we can help more people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grant, funded by the Colorado Department of Corrections, will fund a community-based program called Work and Gain Education & Employment Skills, or WAGEES. The grant is administered by the Latino Coalition for Community Leadership.<\/p>\n

Manna is the first organization in La Plata County to receive grant funding for the WAGEES program, Morse said.<\/p>\n

The WAGEES program improves the employment prospects for eligible people who are still inmates, discharged from prison or on parole. It is intended to help those who face a medium to high risk for recidivism successfully navigate life in their communities.<\/p>\n

The program offers employment preparation and placement, work clothing, mentoring, transportation assistance, housing assistance, therapy and other resources.<\/p>\n

In September 2020, 110 people in La Plata County were on parole supervision, which means there are plenty of people to help, Morse said.<\/p>\n

At Manna, the grant will fund a new case manager position to help 56 participants access the resources starting in September. The specialist provides case management for the participants to help them reach their goals, whether it is something transportation-related, housing or jobs.<\/p>\n

Participants will be connected with the program through the parole office in La Plata County.<\/p>\n

It also fits into the nonprofit\u2019s efforts to build a resource navigation center as part of the city of Durango and La Plata County strategic plan on homelessness, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really excited, especially with coming into the resource center,\u201d Morse said. \u201cThe whole point of the resource\/navigation center is to help people who are in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

By putting an easy-access safety net in place, Morse hopes to help people before they experience housing instability or homelessness, or face \u201cgreater tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting that safety net in place to help people take their next steps, which helps the community be stronger in the long run,\u201d Morse said.<\/p>\n

smullane@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Manna gets $210,000 to offer resource support<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86548,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562\/revisions\/86548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45562"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}