The Kolbe Foundation

Our Vision

The aim for Kolbe - A secure , humane facility geared towards meaningful rehabilitation is the embodiment of our vision.

Analyzing the phrase:

Secure - meaning that all who enters, be it staff or visitors who leaves at the end of the day, and more so inmates who are confined to the facility, are safe and have no need to worry about harm or anything that may be prejudicial to their safety.

Humane - that all inmates and staff have all the basic necessities that they are entitled to as all other human beings living on this earth.

Geared towards meaningful rehabilitation - this means that we are taking the rehabilitation effort seriously. It is a genuine effort with success as the goal. It is firmly believe that rather than being incarcerated, you should be rehabilitated. Everything about the facility is aimed at rehabilitating.

The realization of our aim is when we bring the recidivism rate down to zero. That is the yardstick by which we know that the inmates are empowered to stay out in society and be productive citizens. There is no better feeling than being out in the streets of the city and to cross paths with an ex-inmate who comes up to you and say thanks, thanks for all that you have done for him, that he now has a job, his family is okay, children in school and that he is now on the road to recovery. This is the true reward for the work at the prison. Especially when you think back and realize that that particular ex-inmate was one of the most problematic and had to be disciplined several times.

The work at the facility is aimed directly at instilling in the inmates a  sense of normalcy and a routine that is very similar to that in the outside world. They must work and must report to work at a specific time and get paid a salary. Albeit small, cents on the dollar but they realize that it is something and that they can also be fired or terminated. They are able to work and go to school; learning a  trade or basic life skills. The facility is run much like a trade school. The officers are more like teachers and counselors and even though security is foremost it is cloaked and in the background. Prominence is given to the inmates and their well being.

Our vision - that one day people who run astray will be sentenced to a rehabilitation program rather than to a prison for incarceration. The sentence will be "for successful completion of a program" rather than to a finite sentence of years.