Arouet
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
One of the fastest-growing burdens on government and taxpayers is the cost of incarcerating men and women. In the United States alone, there are over 2.3 million prisoners, at an estimated cost of more than $50 billion annually. This cost is carried by the citizens and supported by raising taxes. Approximately 60-70% of prisoners that are released return to prison within 36 months, and 30% return within six months of release. Everyone deserves a second chance at living the life of their dreams. Women are the heart of the community and when they are removed due to incarceration, their family, and our community suffer. Arouet's mission is to provide education assistance, workforce development, and job opportunities to incarcerated women, as well as ex-offenders, who are sincere about working hard to change their mind-set and to become productive citizens. Our program focuses on holistically healing the mind, body, and souls while preparing them for their new lives.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Preparation - Foundations for Freedom
Arouet’s training programs in prison are designed to assist incarcerated women to take the first steps towards a new productive future. Our partnerships with state and local organizations give us unique access to a population of women that are in desperate need of support and resources.
Our team runs various in-person and virtually classes, both in group and 1-on-1 formats, to prepare women for the first days and weeks of their release. This program focuses on foundational topics necessary for long-term success:
Life skills
Decision making
Local resources
Skills assessment
Financial basics
Goal setting
Our women graduate feeling motivated and empowered with the tools they need to re-enter society.
Release Program - Come Home Stay Home
Arouet ensures that all of our participants are given the help they need immediately out of the gate.
Rides: our team of volunteers provides transport to housing and appointments
Clothing: we give Starter Kits to women in need of basic supplies
Housing: partner shelters and programs help take in our women
Peer Support: our network of mentors understand the difficulties of release
Our goal is for all our participants to receive the dignity they deserve during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
Support - Opportunity Center
Arouet’s Opportunity Center is focused on long-term stability for our participants. Our coaches work 1-on-1 to get to know our women on a personal level, understand their backgrounds, and help guide them to a brighter future. We provide bundled services that address the complete needs of our participants.
Programming is divided into three categories:
1) Employment Services:
Skills assessment
Resume and interview prep
Job placement
Access to education/training
Job retention/advancement
2) Financial Services
Goal setting
Financial literacy
Credit repair
Budgeting and savings
Credit building loans
Auto purchasing & refinancing loans
3) Income Support
Food assistance
Housing and utility subsidies
Identification needs
Access to healthcare
Emergency funds
Engagement - Arouet Storytellers
Arouet Storytellers is our program to engage the general public to raise awareness around second-chance issues. This platform gives our participants a chance to share their stories, explain the challenges women and families impacted by the justice system face, and how programs like Arouet help them succeed.
We have created a comprehensive training program to help our storytellers utilize the power of their experiences to change hearts and minds, impact the public perception of what it looks to be incarcerated, and also as part of their own journey in healing.
Where we work
External reviews
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Arouet Foundation has a goal of putting more people to work, and thereby reducing the increased taxes we all share. Currently, our program only serves 2% of the inmate population at Perryville Prison – our goal is to reach all women in transition and provide them the tools needed to break the socioeconomic and addictive cycles that lead to incarceration. Arouet Foundation has proven that recidivism can be substantially reduced by providing much-needed life skills that are taught on both sides of the prison walls and ongoing support and guidance during the critical first transition year. We are aiming for a 0% recidivism rate for the women who participate in our programs.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Arouet Foundation has proved that recidivism can be substantially reduced by more than 50% with programs that emphasize education, job skills, and post-release work opportunities, without increasing the burden on government. In 2016, TOPS Reentry Workshops were redesigned to cover a wider range of topics to better assist the ladies prior to transitioning to life outside the prison walls. In March 2017, we launched TOPS 1.0 – that allows for self-paced study during the last six-months of our ladies' sentences. While redesigning the TOPS 1.0 Reentry Program, the Arouet Board and Staff realized that we could further reduce recidivism by offering additional resources to the TOPS graduates post-release. The first transitional year of an exoffender's life is a critical turning point. For some, they must give up their family and friends with whom they associated with prior to incarceration – because of the negative influence of others that led to an antisocial or criminal behavior for which our ladies were incarcerated. For those with a history of addictions, they must create a sobriety plan that includes many supportive resources. We notice that several of our ladies were struggling with applying financial lessons learned and needed hands-on workshops where they could learn how to build monthly budgets, reduce debt, manage their credit and financially prepare for their futures. To make sure our ladies did not recidivate – we needed to provide additional resources to them on the outside. In January 2017, we launched our new support program a Thrilling Opportunity Promoting Success or TOPS 2.0. This program provides monthly workshops on a wide range of topics needed continue the holistic healing approach that was started on the inside of the prison. In addition to the monthly workshops, we also created the Arouet Mentorship Program that pairs those who are newly released with former TOPS graduates who have successfully navigated their own transition and are now living amazingly productive lives.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Arouet Foundation relies on community volunteers who collectively donated over 1,200 hours of time between 2011 to 2017. We seek community leading experts to volunteers and lead workshops inside the Perryville Prison, in Goodyear, AZ. On average, everyone who joins us for these workshops is so touched by their experience, that they continue volunteering year after year. We are constantly searching for additional community partnerships. We currently have partnerships with CARS, Inc. (to assist us in fundraising), Fountain of Life House of Worship (providing access to spiritual based counseling & Celebrate Recovery program), Mizrah Team (professional real estate assistance) and Parenting Arizona (provides Arouet Clients access to parenting classes, family resource centers, and behavioral health counseling). Our staff consists of our Board of Directors; Shawn Lamb, Executive Director; and Mary Nicole Barber, Program & Grant Coordinator. We are a small foundation that is defying the odds and changing lives of those we serve one at a time.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Arouet Foundation was recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2011. Since that time, 523 women participated in the TOPS Reentry Program at Perryville Prison with 456 women completing and graduating from the program – which translates to an 87% graduation rate. On average, 80 women participate in the TOPS 1.0 Reentry Program inside the prison. Currently, we are only able to serve 2% of the current inmate population at Perryville Prison. Our goal is to increase our funding and staff so that we may reach all the women who will be released and need assistance during their transition. The TOPS 2.0, which was started in January of 2017 has 15 active participants who attend monthly workshops. These same 15 women are simultaneously enrolled in the Arouet Mentor Program and meet with their mentors at regularly scheduled intervals. Again, our funding and staff limitations only allow us to assist 5% of the TOPS 1.0 graduates with the additional resources that will dramatically reduce their likelihood to recidivate. Our goals are to increase the program budget and staff so that we may assist all the TOPS 1.0 graduates during their transition year.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Arouet
Board of directorsas of 08/15/2023
Dana Campbell Sawyer
Community Leader
Term: 2025 - 2022
Colleen Schwab
Amazon Web Services
Dana Campbell Sawyer
Community Leader
Laura Magnus
Magnus Public Policy
Colleen McGregor
Banner University Health Plans
Catheryn Eisaman-Avalos
Zions Bancorporation
Sarah Liguori
Arizona Community Foundation
Heather McHone
JPMorgan Chase
C. Murphy Hebert
Arizona Secretary of State's Office
Jen Ciosek
Oracle
Organizational demographics
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Leadership
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