AROUND THE PARISH

Educate to Elevate Library Donation Challenge

"Educate to Elevate" is a parish-wide community crusade to engage individuals, groups, local businesses, public agencies, policy makers, faith based and charitable institutions in establishing sustainable libraries in both the men and women's sections of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, "Correctional populations are over-represented with individuals having below average levels of educational attainment." While incarcerated men and women need the literary resources to improve the skills that promote self-reliance and autonomy with the end objective of enabling the prison population to reintegrate into society harmoniously.

Whether their stay is of a short term or long term nature, inmates have the added frustration of very little to do constructively with their time. As a result, the following partners and stakeholders have joined forces to promote and challenge the community at large to contribute books to the cause: Senator Sharon Weston Broome, Representative Regina Ashford Barrow, Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards, Councilwoman Donna Collins Lewis, Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Grimes Warden, Tonja Myles, Spencer Watts, and a host of other faith-based, charitable, public and private agencies.

The press conference to roll out the details of the campaign will be held on Wednesday, December 3, 2015 at 10:00am at Parish Prison. Invited guests include:

PICO National Network
Capital Area Re-Entry Coalition

For additional information feel free to call City Parish Public Information at 225.389.3121.