'Re-Entry' Fall Festival Outreach For Parolees, Families In RivCo

MORENO VALLEY, CA — Parolees and others struggling through post- incarceration challenges will be offered a range of free services Thursday in a pre-Thanksgiving "Re-Entry Fall Festival" in Riverside, where volunteers from a nonprofit will be on hand to provide help.

Moreno Valley-based Immanuel House, which focuses on outreach to parolees and their families, is hosting the festival at the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation's Riverside Parole Unit office, 1777 Atlanta Ave. The event will begin at 10 a.m.

"This aims to support the mission of the Division of Adult Parole Operations, which is to facilitate the successful reintegration of individuals into their communities, equipping them with the tools to be drug-free, healthy and employable members of society," according to an Immanuel House statement. "The program provides education, treatment, rehabilitative and restorative justice programs, all in a safe and humane environment."

Former inmates and their families will be provided frozen turkeys to take home, as well as offered free haircuts and information on affordable housing opportunities, sober living programs and mental health counseling, organizers said.

"Second chance employers ... will be ready to hire on the spot," according to the nonprofit. "This 14th annual festival is one of the ways (of) helping to put the broken pieces of the community back into a functioning society, reminding them ... `They are not forgotten; help is here for all."'

More information is available at immanuelhouse.org.