Man establishes group to help former inmates

By Kiran Sood

Published: Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Editor's note: This is the third of four profiles featuring prominent local African Americans in honor of Black History month.

When members of a community experience problems and no one is there to help them, they might be looking for help. This was exactly the thought that Charles Corey had in mind when he established the Agape Love
Corner , a program that helps rehabilitate individuals who have been incarcerated.

Corey said he developed the program based on his own personal experiences, and because he felt stirred by what he was seeing around him.

"The disturbing nature of watching what is going on in the community around me led me to start this program," he said. "The government cannot help us; we have to help ourselves. Efforts and programs such as these are greatly needed in the community."

The program is based in Corey's hometown, Champaign. His church established the program several years ago, but it has recently begun to take off by his own efforts.

"The main goal of the program is to cut down the recidivism rate in society," Corey said. "We want to help reduce the number of people who are going in and out of jail."

The program helps individuals who have been in trouble in the past and may need various forms of aid to re-enter society.

"We aim to help these individuals find stable jobs," he said. "We provide various different programs for these individuals including aid in the form of employment help, housing - especially transitional housing, clothing, as well as educational and spiritual guidance."

Corey said that there is no specific age group of people who come through the program. Corey has seen individuals ranging from 18 to 65 years old.

"People would be more forgiving of one another and greatly support the idea of brotherly love," he said. "We need to help promote one another."

Ebony McClellan, sophomore in LAS, said that she strongly supports the ideal behind this program. As a member of the campus group "Women of Color," she has also taken part in programs aimed at helping members of society get back on track and re-adjusted to society.

"Women of Color has organized various programs including discussion panels so that people can openly discuss issues in the black community," she said.

"Not a lot of people in the African-American community, especially males, have a positive role model to look up to," McClellan said. "This program gives them a role model that can help them develop a positive outlook on life."

"By helping the black community, we are helping society in general," she said.

She said that although all members of society could use help, the younger generation could especially use a positive role model.

"Young people need a positive influence in their community to look up to," she said.

Vanessa Martinez, freshman in LAS, said that she thinks the program is a great idea because sometimes people cannot get the resources they need based on where they live or their own personal situations.

"In my opinion, minority communities are often the ones that need the most help," she said. "I lived in Chicago and I can see the major differences in these key things such as education (schools) and employment.

"Most of the wealthier neighborhoods are non-minorities," she said. "This program is definitely a step in the right direction for people in less-fortunate communities."

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document.write(currentissuedayname + ', ' + currentissuemonthname + ' ' + currentissueday + ', ' + currentissueyear); • Independent student newspaper since 1874 • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign •

Man establishes group to help former inmates

• Independent student newspaper since 1874 • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign •