COSHOCTON, Ohio — A Coshocton County group built around second chances is looking for a home of its own. The Coshocton County Reentry Coalition, which helps people returning from jail and prison rebuild their lives, is seeking funding and a property in Coshocton for a transitional housing program with about 15 beds, according to reporting by the Coshocton Tribune.
The effort is personal for coalition member Daniel Kovacs, who told the Coshocton Tribune it took him a few stays in prison before he got on the right path and now helps others do the same. Formed in 2023, the coalition connects returning residents with housing and employment help, transportation, clothing, hygiene supplies, identification documents and phones, and with substance abuse and mental health treatment, the Tribune reported.
The coalition operates on an annual budget of about $50,000, covering utilities, peer support, transportation, supplies and direct assistance, along with rent for its facility at 524 Main St., according to the Coshocton Tribune. It originally operated under Allwell Behavioral Health and is now a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Under the plan described to the Coshocton Tribune, Kovacs would supervise a home built around independent living rather than constant surveillance. Residents would be vetted, expected to work and pay part of their income toward housing, and subject to random drug checks and inspections. Kovacs told the Tribune the average stay would be about six months.
Kovacs told the Coshocton Tribune that housing can decide whether someone succeeds after release: after one drug-related prison stay he had a job and a car but no safe place to stay, drifted back to old contacts and returned to prison. “They want to do better and become productive members of our community because all these people are coming home. So we can either help support them or just let them go back to what they were doing and then they’re going to reoffend,” he told the Coshocton Tribune.
The coalition’s work starts before release. Rachelle Courtright, who joined Allwell Behavioral Health as the county jail liaison in 2022, works with inmates on mental health and substance use challenges while helping them prepare for reentry, the Tribune reported. Courtright told the Coshocton Tribune that many people face anxiety over basic tasks after years inside, and the coalition has hosted reentry simulations — the next is set for March 15 — that let the public experience obstacles such as finding a ride to a probation hearing.
For Coshocton County residents, the push means a local option for people who currently leave custody with few places to land — and a model supporters say can cut repeat offenses by pairing a bed with a job, treatment and peer support. What happens next is the search itself: the coalition is seeking a suitable property and funding, and is asking the community for office furniture, hygiene products and clothing for clients, transportation assistance and donations. The coalition can be reached on Facebook or by email at [email protected], according to the Coshocton Tribune.
[…] turned, in testimony, into two confrontations in a single day. Readers can also read about the Coshocton Reentry Coalition’s search for a home for 15-bed second-chance housing, and, for another Southeast Ohio river story, about how Camp Tuscazoar won a $130,805 grant for […]