Mayor Joseph P. Ganim
Bridgeport, CT
For Immediate Release
October 3, 2019
For More information
Josue Jorge (203) 576-7201
josue.jorge@bridgeportct.gov
Mayor Ganim to Serve as Vice Chair for Reentry Under the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee
REENTRY INITIATIVES FOCUS ON EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Bridgeport, CT – The United States Conference of Mayors recently appointed Mayor Ganim as Vice Chair of Reentry under the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee. This appointment as Vice Chair will lend Mayor Ganim and Bridgeport access to best practices, advocacy, collaboration, and valuable partnerships that will benefit MIRA and Bridgeport’s reentry population.
The Mayor’s Initiative for Reentry Affairs (MIRA), now directed by Earl Bloodworth, will be complemented by the Mayor’s anticipated work on the USCM Reentry Committee as both focus to develop a proactive, strategic agenda to provide linkage to services, resources, and employment for individuals released from incarceration and returning to their communities.
In a meeting with MIRA Director Earl Bloodworth and the MIRA Advisory Board, Mayor Ganim said, “We want to redouble our efforts—some of us have been given a second chance and have an obligation and we realize that.” Director Bloodworth commented, “Our Mayor is going to be the head of Reentry for the nation and that will be very helpful to us here, but we also have to get the community involved as well as those who are reentering because they are the closest to the issue and they know what they need.”
As part of MIRA’s initiative and a focus on partnerships with employers, the City will be partnering with the NAACP and their work to secure “One-Million Jobs” for the reentry population throughout the country. Scot Esdaile, President of the CT State Conference of NAACP Branches stated he wants to bring at least 10,000 of those jobs to Connecticut. Mayor Ganim is in support and looks forward to Bridgeport being a host city and beneficiary of this campaign.
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