As you heard in the last newsletter, Kerwin Pittman’s Mobile Recidivism Reduction Center launched and is operating out of a renovated bus that he and seven other formerly incarcerated people gutted and renovated together.
“Having to come [back] into society, I realized that I had a hard time being able to access services because I had to go so many different places and stand in line, and then I had to wait,” Pittman said in an interview with The News & Observer. “So the idea was to bring services to the people.”
The bus has:
- WiFi connection that can support up to 40 people
- Harm reduction supplies like fentanyl test kits and Narcan
- Activities for children whose parents are seeking services
- Envelopes and stamps to mail documents
- An iPad “media center”
- A walk-up window for services
- A microwave
- Two sitting areas that can transport up to five staffers
Kerwin’s goal is to raise at least $250,000 to have three more mobile centers by the end of 2025, eventually building a fleet large enough to cover the whole state.