By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House Executive Director When all the trees are cut down to make way for progress, at least some of those trees are later replaced through reforestation. We don’t leave the environment stark and empty, but we try to restore the land so that it’s similar to what it was before being […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House Executive Director Achieving restorative justice is not something that happens over a few days, weeks, or even months. Our residents are with us 120 to 160 days, then we follow up with them for three years. Being committed to the long-term process is crucial to restore the lives of offenders […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO We have recently talked about restorative justice – what that means, why it’s important and the process we go through at Riverside House to help returned citizens achieve it. One big element that deserves a blog post series all of its own is reentry, or how a person who […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO As we continue to talk about the four elements of successful reentry as part of the larger process of restorative justice, it’s important to understand why we need to think about and treat offenders like PEOPLE, not just inmates. Last time, I shared some of my story about why […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO In this blog post series, we are talking about the four successful aspects of reentry, or how a returned citizen can successfully come back into society after being incarcerated. We have discussed the importance of starting the process early and why it’s crucial to treat prisoners as people, not inmates. […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO As we have gone through this series about reentry, one thing you may have noticed is that it’s never just about the released prisoner who is trying to get back to society and back to their life. It’s about many other people along the way as you start early, […]
Recently on Nightly Business Report, they talked about two industry giants: Starbucks and MacDonald’s. While many of us are still getting our daily dose of caffeine and junk food from these chains, they have both been struggling in various ways recently. People are not showing up at Starbucks like they once were. Investors and the […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO When I was battling my addiction and trying to stay off drugs, it was one day at a time. I felt successful if I could do it one hour at a time really, because it had such a hold on me. But 49 years later, life is much different. […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO After being clean for 49 years and recently getting my 49th medallion for AA, I am asked often HOW I did it. There are so many factors here, and there’s no right or wrong answer. I have my own experience though, and I’ve seen many others walk through the […]
By Cleveland Bell, Riverside House CEO As we walk through some important factors that have helped me with my recovery over 49 years, we started by talking about why it’s so important to attend regular meetings, whether that’s AA, NA, or FA for you. A big part of meetings is working through the 12 steps, […]
