SKILLS WORKSHOPS
Why Job Training and Skills Workshops Are Needed
Research shows that the lack of access to housing and employment are two of the primary challenges to successful reentry after a person is involved with the criminal-justice system. The pressure to find a job without adequate preparation or skills creates tremendous anxiety at the vulnerable point of reentry.
Fully equipped workshops and artisan spaces at the Rebound Institute will allow participants to practice their job skills as barbers, upholsterers, tattoo artists and opticians. Individuals released from prisons in and around the Bay Area (San Quentin, Soledad, Avenal and Elmwood) will have a place to apply the crafts they have learned in prison to financially support themselves while in school.
Background: Education and Job Training in Prison
Skills Workshops – Artisan Spaces
The workshops consist of several facilities for an upholstery studio, tattoo and hair salon parlors, an optician lab and display space, and makerspace as well as a computer lab/classroom. These “artisan spaces” will provide participants with hands-on training and job skills, and reinforce a co-working philosophy by fostering creativity, collaboration and communication.
Read more about the Workshops’ space needs
Tattoo Studio and Phase 2 Barber/Hair Salon
Crafts Studio
The 486-square-foot craft studio intentionally designed to welcome up to ten participants at a time into a hands-on, collaborative creative environment. Thoughtfully flexible in its furnishings and layout, the space supports both individual and group projects, allowing participants to work at their own pace within a guided, instructional setting.
Optician Laboratory
The 1,500-sf. optician laboratory is made up of a lens-processing lab and reception area, storage space and a display/sales floor. The large open space lets visitors browse the glasses as though they are at a gallery.
E-commerce
E-commerce support for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists provides a direct connection from makerspace to market, with the Institute’s e-commerce team delivering cutting-edge marketing, branding, and sales support to help artists build sustainable online businesses and ensure their work reaches appreciative audiences nationwide—whether they are still inside or returning home.
Life-Skills Development
Many formerly incarcerated individuals lack certain basic life skills for living on the outside, such as cooking, doing laundry, using a computer, and maintaining personal finances. While they are incarcerated, the prison provides their food and clothing, and often they reenter the community without these skills to provide for themselves. Drawing on the real-life experiences of those who have successfully traversed the reintegration process, we plan to incorporate life-preparedness skills such as opening a bank account, building credit, time management, and learning health and culinary basics.