FirstFollowers Fund 2016 Drive

FirstFollowers is a re-entry program based in Champaign, Illinois.  We opened our doors in March, 2015.   We are based on a peer mentoring model, which means our leadership and volunteers are largely formerly incarcerated people who also bear the stigma of a felony conviction. We believe they are best positioned to help others down the path to success.

During our two years of operation we have run a two day a week drop-in center, assisting dozens of individuals coming home in accessing jobs, housing, educational opportunities and other forms of support.  In 2016 we trained peer mentors in participatory action research and then completed a survey of 301 community members on the challenges of reentry. We have presented the results of our survey to community groups, churches, campus audiences, the Urbana City Council, and Champaign Human Relations Council. 

In 2016 we also reached out to employers to open up job opportunities for people with felony convictions. We have met with over two dozen employers and educated them about the need to provide jobs for our constituency. 

We have done all of this with only one, half-time employee and lots of volunteer labor from our peer mentors and unpaid co-Directors. 

In 2017, with your help, we want to move toward our vision of Building Community Through Reentry. 

·         We will be launching a full-time, 8 week, workforce development course which will upgrade participants’ skills, link them to job opportunities and train them in community organizing.  

 ·         We will also be mobilizing our constituency and allies to unlock resources for transitional housing for people returning home from the Illinois Department of Corrections. Stable housing is the bedrock of successful reentry.  But our house will be more than a roof over people's heads. It will be connected to the community, with residents providing service to the neighborhood and building the presence of FirstFollowers in Champaign-Urbana. 

If you want to learn more about FirstFollowers, visit our website at www.firstfollowersreentry.com 






Marlon Mitchell, FirstFollowers founder and Co-Director speaks here about FirstFollowers’ connection to the community:


We opened our doors in March of 2015. Since that time we have been running a drop-in center twice per week at Bethel AME Church in Champaign. Over the course of our first year we have helped dozens of people seek and find employment, assisted people to obtain state identification, supported applications to further their education.  Tamika Davis, one of our core volunteer mentors speaks here about how FirstFollowers has benefited her:


Our program grew out of the struggle to stop a 2012 proposal by our county authorities to spend $30 million on jail construction. We argued that the county needed more programs and services for the community, not more incarceration.  Our efforts paid special attention to the fact that our county was targeting Black people for imprisonment.  While only 13% of the population of our county is Black, in September 2015, 71% of the jail population and more than 60% of the parole population was African American.  We realized that we needed to stop jail construction but we also needed to provide community-based alternatives.  We aimed to make FirstFollowers one of those genuine alternatives.

Throughout all of our efforts we emphasize peer mentoring. We do not rely on professionals to lead us but rather aim to build the skills of formerly incarcerated individuals and their loved ones to spearhead our programs. We don’t seek financial assistance for salaries but for our activities, equipment, and direct support for our participants when they need IDs, birth certificates, court transcripts, even clothes for a job interview. We also want to provide short-term stipends for formerly incarcerated folks to engage in community work.

Marlon Mitchell speaks here about FirstFollowers idea of peer mentoring.


We believe we have already made a difference, but that we can do more, with your support.

Your contribution will fund:

·         Provide training to formerly incarcerated people and their loved ones in advocacy-we need those impacted by incarceration to speak for themselves. 

·         Create support groups for people with issues of substance abuse, mental health and family reconnection

·         Provide training in research skills to our participants so that they can carry out a participatory needs assessment among the formerly incarcerated and their loved ones in our communities

·         Provide transportation for family members to visit loved ones, especially those  who are incarcerated but are close to their release date

FirstFollowers Co-Director James Kilgore talks here about our future plans.


To expand our programs, reach more people and make a bigger contribution to community-building, we need your assistance. We hope you will choose to support FirstFollowers with a donation. Your contribution will help build the capacity of formerly incarcerated people to advocate for their rights in our community and beyond. They can make a difference with your support.   

If you want to learn more about us, visit our website at www.firstfollowersreentry.com   or contact us via email at firstfollowerscu at gmail.com   We are a registered 501 c(3) so your donation is tax deductible. Email us for the EIN number.

Our statement of purpose:

Our organization offers:

·         A safe stigma free environment

·         Peer mentoring

·         Assistance with employment searches

·         Job readiness training

·         Advocacy for individuals with felony convictions

·         Family reunification

·         Service referrals