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Join our new volunteer program, Bridging the Gap.

Explore Ways To Get Involved Sign up for an advocacy training

Informal mentoring, coaching on basic skills, and fellowship

We have launched a program to match people who want to help (like you!) with people who are about to be released from prison after serving extreme sentences. Our goal is to create a space where positive relationships can thrive and where those relationships provide informal support for people returning to their communities.

The main focus of our volunteer program is making one-on-one connections between volunteers and people who are incarcerated.  As a volunteer, you may be asked to assist someone with a clemency petition or share experience around basic things like technology or building credit. Once they are released, you may be asked to accompany a person to the Secretary of State to get their ID or to review their resume for a first job interview. This casual mentoring relationship is up to the volunteer and their mentee to define. Volunteers can also play a role in helping us grow the program.

We also occasionally have events we need help with or other one-time volunteer opportunities. We are always looking for ways to involve our volunteers in our work. And if your volunteer experience inspires you to get involved in our advocacy work to help make Illinois’ sentencing laws more compassionate, you can find out more here. 

We will provide some basic training for all volunteers. Join today!

Join Restore Justice’s Volunteer Team, Bridging the Gap: Help People Returning Home

We need your help! Join our new volunteer program, Bridging the Gap.

Our volunteers will help people who will be leaving prison within five years. Our goal is to build relationships between our Restore Justice volunteers and the impacted community. We hope to create a support system through one-on-one partnerships between volunteers and incarcerated individuals trying to plan for their transition back into society.

Volunteers will be connected with a person who is incarcerated and asked to help answer questions (including about how to obtain an ID, how to navigate technology, etc.). There will also be opportunities to help the person when they are released. This may include participating in life and job skills training, helping the person obtain their ID, and helping the person write a resume. You can choose which forms of help fit your skills and time commitment.

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It was my first time meeting Maurice (FLAP Apprentice) at the calendar send-off, but he had a warmth and humbleness about him. When he talked about his experience with FLAP and the opportunities that came out of it, his gratitude was infectious. I’m so glad to know there are more great things coming his way.

Fabienne Elie

I have been wanting to get involved with Restore Justice as I grew up with an incarcerated sibling and I am passionate about reform and abolition, but as a grad student it was hard to find the time to meet. So once I saw the opportunity to volunteer as a mock interviewer for an apprentice, I was an immediate yes.

Kylie Nethers

The interviewees were extremely well prepared thanks to the Restore Justice staff, and they opened up about leveraging their past to succeed in the future. I felt so moved by their stories, and I actually wrote something down one of them said because it felt so profound in the moment.

Kylie Nethers