By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
The Rev. Catherine Bowers wanted to demonstrate to Northwood Civic Association members that the rumors about the Frankford Re-Entry Project were garbage.
So, the executive director of Frankford Group Ministry grabbed a trash can and held up five pieces of paper. The paper read "secret program," "bringing in 800 criminals," "by the busload," "building housing" and "brain-child of FGM."
Bowers ripped up the paper and threw it in the trash.
"Almost everything you’ve heard about the re-entry program is wrong," she said.
Members of the civic association were alarmed when they learned that 800 people each year who serve time in county jails live in the 19124 ZIP code. Information on the subject was put on a Web site, takenoprisoners.mynorthwood.net
Bowers explained that the Frankford Re-Entry Project is starting as a pilot program. It’s a community-based collaboration that provides services to ex-offenders who are being released from jail and returning to their families.
The FGM administrator hopes the program helps the ex-cons stay clean on the outside. Studies show that two-thirds of inmates released from prison are incarcerated again.
"We’d like to reduce that recidivism rate," she said.
Civic association president Joe Menkevich and others complained that the 15th Police District knew nothing of the program.
Also, while the program was initiated by the city prison system last March, the civic group was not invited to participate in planning until late November.
Menkevich declined to participate because he opposes the program and can’t do anything about it.
The program will go forward without the civic group.
"Our legitimacy comes from the mayor’s office," said Kevin Lucas, project coordinator of the Redirection Center, the lead organization for the program.
Project organizers promised that no sex offenders or pedophiles would be part of the program. Everyone receiving services will be non-violent.
Still, the Northwood community plans to monitor the project’s activities.
"Who’s going to be accountable to this community for our right to know?" Menkevich asked.
The Redirection Center, at 1839 Harrison St., was founded more than 20 years ago to serve the men and women of Frankford who are recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.
The center is working with the Frankford Group Ministry, the Frankford Community Development Corporation and 27 other community partners that include city and state agencies and neighborhood and faith-based groups.
These organizations will offer mentoring; family counseling; housing assistance; spiritual support; employment, job training and literacy services; and drug, alcohol and mental health treatment.
For now, the program will assist 18 people, but organizers acknowledged that there are 800 inmates every year who have addresses in the 19124 ZIP code.
"Didn’t that 800 go in the trash?" one female skeptic asked.
Bowers responded that, of the 800 inmates, some are not convicted and others are in jail for a day or two on minor charges.
Lucas said the program model has worked elsewhere, and he believes it will be successful in Frankford. The goal is to make sure that every ex-con has a GED and try to get them jobs that pay higher than the minimum wage.
The Rev. Richard Smith, acting executive director of the Redirection Center, said the project is voluntary for offenders. As part of the program, volunteer mentors will visit inmates in prison prior to their release.
"It’s like a Big Brother/Big Sister kind of thing," Smith said.
No funding has been received so far, according to Lucas. The pilot program will be evaluated, he said.
Raverly Caldwell, who is on parole for a drug conviction, believes the pilot program will succeed, but only for those who want to change their lives.
"These are excellent programs," she said.
Some Northwood neighbors are accepting the program, others are not.
Debbie Klak, a local resident and businesswoman who is closing her lampshade shop on Frankford Avenue because of neighborhood deterioration, doesn’t think the project will make much of a difference.
"There are too many criminals out there," she said.
In other news from the Jan. 17 meeting:
• A professional minor-league football team wants to play at Frankford War Memorial Stadium, beginning this summer.
The team will be called the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the name of a former NFL franchise that played from 1924-31. That team played most of its games on a field at Frankford and Devereaux avenues and was crowned NFL champion in 1926.
Today, the Yellow Jackets practice on a field at Richmond Street and Allegheny Avenue. The team anticipates playing five home games a year, with road trips to face opponents as far away as Maryland. There will be 40 players, including those with college and NFL training camp experience. Management expects college and pro scouts to attend the games.
The team will wear uniforms that feature the logo and royal blue and gold colors of the old Yellow Jackets.
The Yellow Jackets would welcome Eagles players who are coming back from injuries.
Though the Eagles had a lousy season, Yellow Jackets management doesn’t expect their team to rival the Birds in popularity.
"I pray that (Eagles owner) Jeffrey Lurie has a sleepless night about us," said Brian Harris, a Yellow Jackets historian and player.
The Yellow Jackets want to give back to the community by organizing an after-school reading program for students and creating a Habitat for Humanity-type group that would improve the housing stock in the area.
The team welcomes neighborhood volunteers to take tickets and work the concession stands.
For more information on the team, call Brian Harris at 267-980-1460 or Jim Wick at 267-812-0391, or visit eteamz.com/fyjackets2006 or www.frankfordyellowjackets.com
• Jason Bryan and Abel Olivo, of the Maryland-based Association for Homeowners Across America, made a presentation to the group.
AHAA helps improve the home-buying and homeownership experience and serves as a resource for homeownership-related education, services, exclusive offers and advocacy.
For more information, visit www.ahaanow.org or call Bryan toll-free at 1-866-263-7437, Ext. 466.
• Northwood Civic Association will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. at St. James Lutheran Church, at Castor Avenue and Pratt Street. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com