Build the First-72-Hours Kit

Release day: a ride from the gate, a cheap phone, clothes that fit, cash for the ID fee, and one meal with a person. The first three days decide the next three years.

CategoryThe Prisoner

TimeA day

Cost$150–$300

ModeAlone · With a friend · With a group

KitCare Kit

A man walks out with a paper bag, sixty dollars, and the clothes he was arrested in. Whoever meets him in that parking lot mostly determines where he sleeps that night.

If nobody’s there, the only people who will take his call are the ones he knew before.

What you'll need

A ride, arranged with the reentry ministry or chaplain ahead of the date
A prepaid phone, activated, with your number already in it
Clothes that fit — ask sizes in advance — plus shoes and a jacket
Cash or a card for the state ID and birth certificate fees
A sit-down meal somewhere with a booth, not a drive-through

Pitfalls

Be early at the gate. Standing there alone for an hour is its own message.
Get the ID first. Without it there's no job, no apartment, no bank account.
Eat with them at a table. Handing over a bag and driving off misses the entire point.
Set a next time before you leave. Day four is when the phone goes quiet.

Printable card

Print and trim to fit the back of a gift card. (Use 4×3 inch label paper, or cut from a standard sheet.)

Somebody's glad you're out. Call the number in the phone — it's mine. — a guy from a church nearby

The Lord sets the prisoners free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. — Psalm 146:7–8