Nashville-Davidson County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) and Sheriff Daron Hall announced the 5th Annual Lifecycle Conference will take place July 24 at St. James Missionary Baptist Church, located at 600 28th Avenue North Nashville, TN 37209.
The conference addresses needs of the incarcerated to successfully re-enter society and become responsible and productive citizens. The mission of the conference is to promote community collaboration that develops awareness and solution-based programs in hopes of breaking the cycle of addiction, mental illness, joblessness, and homelessness.
“Lifecycle is really all about making sure offenders leave jail better than when they entered,” said Sheriff Daron Hall. “This isn’t possible without community partners and volunteers. “
The Lifecycle Conference is the brainchild of Community Relations Director Thomas E. Hunter, Sr. The Community Relations Division was created to help bridge the gap between the Nashville community and DCSO jails.
“The conference will explore ways both non-profit organizations and businesses alike can work with the DCSO offender population and help reach our goal of making offenders taxpayers, not tax burdens,” said Hunter. “The police arrest the person and the DCSO is committed to arresting the problem.”
The conference will begin at 7:30 am with speakers to include: Sheriff Daron Hall and Mayor David Briley. The conference will also include a panel of candidates for elected office to address recidivism issues.
Various breakout sessions will provide education and awareness for the community on issues regarding offenders in an effort to achieve six clearly defined goals, as follows: to stimulate discussion of ideas that would challenge the community reception of the ex-offender; to share ideas regarding the need to have multiple county, community, and jail programs working in unison; to exchange information and ideas specific to the inmate incarceration and how to best use that time; to increase awareness of the value and benefits of offender workforce development in conjunction with the re-entry process; to ultimately increase safety in Davidson County by reducing recidivism; and to create a viable countywide network of communication between the DCSO and community partners.
“We can’t reach our goals without help from the Nashville community,” said Hunter. “Join in this collaborative discussion on July 24 with others who want to break the cycle of crime and turn lives around.”
To register for the conference, call 615-804-8154 or email Thomas Hunter at thunter@dcso.nashville.org or Qunina Richardson at qrichardson@dcso.nashville.org.
