ADAPPT, a residential reentry center run by GEO Reentry Services in Reading, Pennsylvania, recently took part in community service to help beautify the city. A group of volunteers from the inpatient unit and ADAPPT staff partnered with the City and the Reading/Northern Railroad for a much-needed clean-up of the highly-trafficked area of Reading between 7th and Penn streets.
The very visible area contains railroad tracks that cut through section of streets in the downtown business district and is often cluttered with litter. The ADAPPT group joined in to help clean up the area and clear the tracks.
“Community service helps reentrants give back to society, and reinforces the reentry programming we provide,” Michael Critchosin, director of ADAPPT, said. “We emphasize giving back to the community as a component of reentry programming, and we are proud to partner with our community to keep the area clean.”
Steve Harrity, clean city coordinator for the City of Reading, is a volunteer who coordinates city events with community partners. He expressed his appreciation to the reentrants for their professional attitude and thorough work at the site. As a result of their work, the volunteers felt a sense of accomplishment and maintained a positive attitude throughout their service.
ADAPPT, which stands for Alcohol and Drug Addiction Parole and Probation Treatment, completed 400 hours of community service in May, and more than 100 hours were dedicated to the City of Reading. The residential reentry center sustains a substantial record of community service, and they continue to serve by providing volunteers to help with city clean-ups, construction at public buildings, snow clean-up and church events.
“The volunteer reentrants took pride in the work and worked very hard at the clean-up,” Dawn Martin, clinical supervisor for the inpatient unit, said. “These events are a win-win; it helps our City and it helps the reentrants. They take pride in giving back and have an opportunity to demonstrate positive behavior skills.”
ADAPPT provides residential reentry programming at its inpatient unit. It has four buildings and an outpatient treatment facility also located in Reading. At the inpatient unit, reentrants have a full program of case management, assessment, substance abuse programming, educational and vocational assistance, and individual and group counseling. The programming follows a cognitive behavioral treatment approach aimed to assist reentrants with a successful transition to society.