Constructing Our Future – Fact Sheet

Legal Name:  Constructing Our Future, Inc., established 2017.  Original research began in prison in 2015.

Legal Status:  Articles of Incorporation filed 2019 and 501(c)3 status achieved in 2020.  IRS EIN number is 84-1797407. 

Vision: Our vision is that previously incarcerated women leaving prison who have a strong desire to restart their lives are fully supported and welcomed back to the community, with a path to permanent housing and sustainable employment, stabilized families and engagement in their communities.

Mission: Constructing Our Future (COF) welcomes home women returning from incarceration with dignity, safety, and hope. COF improves wellbeing and reentry outcomes for women through safe housing, wraparound services, programming to strengthen families, and targeted workforce and life-skills training. Guided by lived experience, we also support incarcerated women and advocate for policies that promote successful reintegration statewide.

Values: We value sobriety, honest communication, and learning new skills to manage our lives that had once become unmanageable. We value community development, not just for cities or neighborhoods, but also development of our own COF community. We value our partnerships with each other, working together to create a family structure, respecting and working alongside others for this single goal, and recognizing that in the process we have to help one another by holding each other accountable. We value being of service to others, supporting one another, modifying behavior by building positive relationships with our families and our communities. We value teamwork, character development, equal opportunity in jobs and housing options. Finally, we value the Indiana Constitution, especially Article 1, Section 18, which declares, “The penal code shall be founded on the principles of reformation, and not of vindictive justice,” and its implied promise is that upon our release we will be reintegrated into society as full citizens.

Philosophy: As incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women, we believe that we have the power to manage our reentry and to create the lives we want, through exercising autonomy and accountability.

Residential Housing: COF Home Base has one house that can house 4 women. Our goal is to have a larger home/building that can serve more women. 

Who is eligible?

-Women cis or trans, gender non-conforming, LGBTQ are welcome

-Must be formerly convicted or arrested

-Over the age of 18 years.

-No drug or alcohol use is permitted.