so they would not victimize another person. It's not easy for them. One of our goals is to try to help them understand that they can live effective lives and that they can become productive citizens in spite of the fact that they have a stigma against them and a felony. That’s not determining what they can and can’t do in terms of developing themselves.” But what about recidivism? Dr. Wash did a study from their initial program in 1998 through 2013-14. “We only had a 1% recidivism rate, and right now, we still have a very low recidivism rate. Society has put restrictions on them in terms of movement and work.” But, she tells her clients, “‘You must be able to work around that and still see yourself as valuable, productive, and able to move forward.’ So we try to encourage them. We try to empower them with the belief that this is not an end for them but that they do have to work to turn it around.” Dr. Wash shares that her first love was teaching. With a master's in cultural studies with an emphasis on African American studies, she was planning on teaching at a university. “I'm happy where I am now. I did teach; I fulfilled my goal; I taught substance abuse courses at Kennedy-King College, Harold Washington College, and Chicago State University. I had my Doctorate then, so I taught psychology courses. So, I was able to do what I wanted to do—teach.” She also became a director for two of their mental health centers, and I worked with them for 17 ½ years while working with EMAGES. “Sometimes you end up where you're supposed to be as opposed to where you thought you would be.” She adds, “These are needed services, and the people that come to us for service, we are in most cases their last resort, and because of the stigma that’s associated with
the population that we treat, it's very difficult for us to get support and funding. . . Because one thing we have to do is empower the clients when they come to us. And then have the wider society understand that. These are people who are in need of services, and we are here to provide those services, but we need their support.”
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