Their Second Chance

Organization Name:
The Ridge Project
City & State:
Describe your creative piece – what is it and what has it been used for, and why is it innovative?
The Ridge Project serves incarcerated fathers, providing not only character development classes for the men, but also couple communication classes for the men and their partners. The advertisement suggests that a couple’s second chance at their relationship might be their children’s only chance. This piece has been used in emails, mailings, and our website. The use of colors, textural layers, quality photos, and most of all, the clever use of wording, makes this piece innovative. “The Second Chance Act” is a federal program with a main focus of prisoner re-entry into society. We innovatively use this familiar phrase to communicate our mission of building stronger families.
What issue or problem were you working to address with this piece?
One out of ninety-nine American adults is currently incarcerated and one out of 31 is under some kind of judicial supervision (PEW, 10-2009). It is estimated that nearly 7.5 million children have a parent in prison, jail or under criminal supervision (RTI, 9-2008). And children who grow up with an incarcerated father are 6 times more likely to end up in jail themselves. If an incarcerated father can learn to have a healthy relationship with his family, even while he is still in prison, their family has a much greater chance of beating these horrific odds.
How has your submission successfully impacted your organization’s ability to solve this issue/problem?
Statistics show that if a man can success fully re-enter his family, then he can successfully re-enter society. Effective communication is paramount in making this happen. Studies further show that youth who grow up with a father in their life are much less likely to engage in risky behaviors like drugs, alcohol, and sex. Our unique approach of working with the entire family has brought lasting changes in hundreds of families throughout the state of Ohio and it is our passion to see these same results duplicated in communities throughout the nation. We are confident that if the word about our success can get out, and if other like-minded organizations are able to implement our program and strategies, we will see a drastic decrease in our nation’s recidivism rate. This advertisement has played a crucial role in communicating this message. Their second chance as a couple might be their children’s only chance for a better future.
Creative Submission - Files