News - 2006
Tully House Residents Present Award of Appreciation to Barnes and Noble Employee
Roseland, NJ, Nov 9, 2006 - Residents from Tully House, Community Education Center's 340-bed residential treatment center in Newark, New Jersey, presented Debra Lampert-Rudman, Community Relations Manager at a local Barnes and Noble, with an award of appreciation for her continued support of Tully House's leisure education program.
"The compassion that Debra has showed these men from Tully House is immeasurable. As she sees through the stigma of incarceration, she has given these men positive learning experiences that are important foundations in their continued recovery and ultimate return to the community," said Allison Link, Director of Tully House's leisure education program.
The leisure education program provides Tully House residents with new and constructive ways to approach their free time upon release back into their communities. Whether it's going to a bookstore or spending time with their children, the understanding is that when residents finds positive ways to spend their free time, they will be less likely to find themselves in situations that will lead to re-incarceration.
Each trip Tully House residents make to the bookstore is accompanied with an assignment and a debriefing that allows residents to discuss their experiences. In three years, Ms. Link has led over 25 trips to the bookstore fostering a relationship that has seen Barnes and Noble donate over 3,000 books to Tully House. The relationship has also grabbed the attention of the national media and last month the New York Times reported on the program.
"My job is to care about our community and these people are a part of it. If they can find our store a place to go to avoid doing terrible things, how great is that? The worst that can happen to you here is someone will give you a bookmark or offer you a Frappuccino sample," said Ms. Lampert-Rudman.
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