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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - May 27, 2008
Stacey Kindt Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
May 27, 2008

Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey Resident Wins Cash Award To Expand Women's Post-Incarceration Employment And Mentorship Program


(New York, NY, May 27, 2008) Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey resident Stacey Kindt, 34, is one step closer to driving meaningful change in her community and creating a better tomorrow. Stacey was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. She is the fifth recipient in New Jersey to win this award and the second to support a program to help formerly incarcerated women. Stacey is also among the first Hello Tomorrow Fund winners to be selected by a newly expanded panel of judges that now includes Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York and actress Phylicia Rashad. Stacey’s award will support Redeem-Her, a program that operates a transitional house and provides support to women while incarcerated and also once released from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, New Jersey’s only state prison for women.

Re-entering society and building a life once released from prison has inherent challenges for women and their children, often exacerbated by the stigma of criminal history, relapse and recidivism. Each year, on average, two-thirds of the 300 women released from the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women return to prison. That staggering statistic is what drives Stacey and the many volunteer workers of Redeem-Her to break the cycle of reentry and offer women the support they need while in prison, and upon their return.

Stacey herself was incarcerated from 2002 until 2004. During that time she and five other women developed the idea for a program that addresses the many issues that incarcerated women face both during and after serving their sentence. In 2003, they officially named the program Redeem-Her and began to map out plans for helping women reenter society and lead successful lives so they never return to prison. Upon her release from prison, despite limited resources, Stacey and the small group of women – all single mothers – worked to rebuild their lives and launch Redeem-Her. While holding down a full-time job and with no compensation for her work on Redeem-Her, Stacey successfully opened two transitional houses and created support networks through the Redeem-Her program. She also enlisted the help of volunteer professionals to teach courses on job skills, anger management, family reunification and other life skills classes. Unfortunately, the second transitional home recently had to close due to issues within the community, but Stacey and her team hope to be able to open a second location in the near future.

In addition, Redeem-Her helps formerly incarcerated women secure work-appropriate clothing and transportation to and from their jobs. The transitional residences provide a safe haven for women and uses educational sessions to help them develop the skills to become contributing members of society. This transitional housing and support program can be instrumental in helping women make important, positive life decisions and build productive lives.

Thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Stacey will be able to purchase computers, high speed Internet and a printer/copier/fax machine for the Redeem-Her transitional house. This will enable the women who are just released from prison to look for permanent housing, employment and reconnect with loved ones. Any remaining funds will be put towards opening a second transitional housing location. Stacey, along with the volunteer workers of Redeem-Her, will be able to continue empowering women to make better choices on the path to becoming independent, useful members of society.

Stacey’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund met the criteria of clearly presenting unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including personal finance expert, Suze Orman, actress Phylicia Rashad and Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. “Women coming out of prison are extremely vulnerable without support and the opportunity to learn while planning their next steps,” noted Sarah Ferguson. “I think group homes have the potential to change women’s lives in lasting and powerful ways.”

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