Inside Out Reentry Community

Community members, educators, employers and others are encouraged to learn how individuals, after serving prison time, face a multiple challenges reentering the community and finding employment during a reentry simulation event held later this month.

Inside Out Reentry Community, an Iowa City nonprofit, is holding the event from 1 to 3 p.m. on April 19, at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 140 Gathering Place Lane, in Iowa City. During the first 90 minutes of the event, participants will be given a fictional identity of an individual attempting to reenter the community following a criminal conviction.

Participants will navigate through “multiple difficult tasks” and gain insight into the hardships that come with parole. Following the stimulation, organization officials will have a 30-minute debrief and panel discussion, featuring firsthand experiences and stories of individuals who have gone through this process.
This is a public outreach event for the community and is free for participants. However, space is limited and an RSVP is necessary.
If you go
What: Inside Out reentry simulation
Where: St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 140 Gathering Place Lane, Iowa City
When: 1 to 3 p.m. April 19
Cost: Free
Details: RSVP required at [email protected] or (319) 338-7996

Michelle Heinz, executive director of Inside Out Reentry Community, said the organization is anticipating about 50 people will attend this year’s simulation. There still is space left for individuals to register, but it is filling up quickly, so she suggested signing up as soon as possible.

The simulations are an “eye-opening experience,” Heinz said.

“Individuals who attend often comment on how challenging it is and how it helps them gain a greater understanding of the obstacles that people face,” Heinz added.

Read more at The Gazette. Written by Trish Mehaffey, April 3, 2024.

Five drawings by Shawn Lurkens are displayed as part of the “Art from the Inside Out” art show in Iowa City, but — like Lurkens’ dealings with the criminal justice system — none of them are finished.

All of the artists whose art is displayed in the show — which runs through Feb. 16 at Public Space One in Iowa City — are people who have been or are still incarcerated in jails or prisons in Iowa. Lurkens spent about six months in jail in Linn County and is now living in a residential correctional facility.

Lurkens started drawing as a way to pass the time while he was in jail. He said it served as a form of meditation for him.

“It was the only way I could really relax while I was in jail,” Lurkens said. “I could get lost in it for hours.”

His pieces that are displayed in the free art show use symmetry and nature to explore abstract concepts like “Eternal Love” and “Spiritual Wisdom.” The pieces were originally drawn in black and white while he was in jail. He started to add color after he was released to the halfway house. There still is color missing, because Lurkens plans to finish his artwork after he finishes his stay at the residential facility.

Read more at The Gazette. Written by Emily Andersen.