What we do
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Those individuals who have survived a prison sentence and emerged offer the most insightful frameworks for redefining reentry and are the most passionate about making sure other people do not suffer the same injustices they did upon reentry. ATLaS hopes to harness these insights and passions by reaching out to this marginalized population and empowering them to populate and expand Arizona’s meager reentry resources. Most importantly, ATLaS works with individuals to discover and unlock their dreams. Our work is not just about helping prison survivors find stability; it is about helping them thrive.
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Who We Are |
At ATLaS Justice Center, we see ourselves as a family. We help people successfully reintegrate back into their communities after serving time in prison, jail, or juvenile detention. Being a family means that we offer unbending support, honest and unabashed advice, and security. ATLaS fosters individual growth and continues to counsel, provide resources and offer encouragement throughout the remainder of that individual's life.
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Our History
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ATLaS was born from a shared passion. Kirstin and Jonathon first met working together on a constitutional class action lawsuit involving the provision of constitutionally adequate healthcare in Arizona's prison system. When Jonathon was released from prison, the two began a dialog about the many ways the criminal justice system could be improved.
All the while, Jonathon himself was reintegrating back into his community from prison. As he struggled with many rejections and judgments, and with Kirstin by his side along the way, the two began to realize how uncoordinated and sparse Arizona's reentry resources were. Wanting to have a hand in many facets of constructing and coordinating Arizona's reentry landscape, the two imagined ATLaS' first project: a small business incubator that helps prison survivors start their own business and mentors them through the first two years. From this initial project sprouted many new ideas. What Kirstin and Jonathon realized was that, while employment and housing are paramount during reentry, mental fortitude is just as important. Having the positivity, coping mechanisms, and resilience to power through the many obstacles society throws at individuals with a criminal record is just as essential. Without the mental tools to keep moving forward, people give up and turn to the economy and lifestyle familiar to them, a choice that often leads right back to prison. Kirstin and Jonathon wrote ATLaS' ID Curriculum to help provide these very mental tools to people working through reentry. ATLaS' other projects include Tribal Reentry Atlases, Residential Reentry Programs (state and tribal), employment training and counseling, and trauma support programs. ATLaS is currently at work on programs to support the families of those currently incarcerated, including a Kids Club for children of the currently incarcerated, a visitation transport service, and a "how-to" guide for navigating ADC's intense bureaucracy. Finally, ATLaS aims to provide a forum for one of the most powerful tools of communication: art. Our Freedom of Art gallery gives visitors a bird's eye view into mass incarceration and its byproducts, communicating both the struggle and the humanity of each artist. ATLaS tailors all of its programs to support the growing community of prison survivors and those still serving time on the outside. As Kirstin and Jonathon built these programs and researched the philosophies and core values behind them, they came to a stark realization: our current correctional system is too broken to fix. The only was forward is to build a replacement. Undeterred by the magnitude of this epiphany, Kirstin and Jonathon set out to first build a transitional community that would truly and dramatically decrease recidivism. And Holobiont Farms was born. But the two knew that this was just the first step, and so they began to imagine and create an entirely new correctional system, that built a replacement to our current system right next to it. Buoyed by the anticipated success of the new system, the duo knew that the old system would crumble in on itself. They designed a system to replace prisons with a correctional system that prioritizes humanity and normality over revenge and punishment, employing a modified Scandinavian model. In May 2017, the two revealed a comprehensive plan to construct this new system and to introduce it through pilot programs across several states. SHRR Camps will break an individual's "correction" into two parts. First, the individual will go through intensive institutional detox and rehabilitation, and this portion of the program will be largely driven by the individual. Second, the individual will participate in a restorative justice plan tailored to the injury their action(s) caused. This plan will include the voices of the victim and victim's family, the community, the individual and their family. The purpose of this new system of corrections is to end mass incarceration by actually correcting and healing individuals rather than subjecting them to dehumanization, trauma, and violence. |
Contact Us
Please feel free to reach out to us with questions, stories, comments, or ideas. We are always looking for new ways to serve our community and partner with community members.
Kirstin EidenbachExecutive Director
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Jonathon TretheweyExecutive Director
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