Family
For former prisoners, having a network of supportive people to help with the transition from prison to community is essential. For this reason, Fortune works hard to assist our clients in re-establishing familial relationships, especially those with their children. These efforts began over thirty years ago when Fortune partnered with Eda LeShan, noted author of more than 30 books for adults and children.
Currently Fortune offers a comprehensive Family Services program for both custodial and non-custodial parents that features:
- parenting training;
- individual and group counseling;
- individual legal consultation with an in-house family law attorney to help with child support arrears and custody/visitation issues; and
- lifeskills workshops that focus on cooking, nutrition and money management.
Our father’s cooking class, which has been featured by The New York Times, is one of our most popular Family Services offerings. Each week Betty Wilson, a Fortune volunteer, leads her class through the preparation of an elaborate lunch from scratch. Her students learn about nutrition, table manners and the importance of sitting down to a meal as a family. For many of our clients, this is the first time they have ever had such an opportunity. As one participant notes: "I lived in a home for most of my life. I never had a family dinner. Now I take my kids, we have a play table, a little art table, we set up the chairs around it and we eat. That's what I was missing and no one should miss this, it's beautiful."
Fortune’s Family Services Unit provided services to 385 new clients in 2005 and over 100 former prisoners completed the parenting workshop series.
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For additional information about our family services program, please contact Peggy Arroyo, Senior Director of ATI and Family Services, at or 212-691-7554, ext. 235.
