A New Way of Life Reentry Project, in partnership with the De Paul Evangelization Center, is set to open its tenth safe home for formerly incarcerated women with a socially distanced grand opening celebration.
LOS ANGELES (August 24th, 2020) — A New Way of Life Reentry Project and the De Paul Evangelization Center are partnering to open Villa La Tournelle, a former convent that will now become home to as many as 14 formerly incarcerated women and their children. This is the second home A New Way of Life has opened for the specific purpose of housing women being released from prison and jail during the COVID-19 pandemic; the organization opened its ninth home in South Los Angeles in May. Named for the building that St. Vincent de Paul rented in Marseilles, France, to house prisoners condemned to service on the French galleys, the villa is part of a larger reentry initiative being planned by De Paul Center, ANWOL, the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Los Angeles and the archdiocese’s Office of Restorative Justice.
Since signing the lease on the villa in July, A New Way of Life has secured funding to renovate the building and turn it into a warm, safe, welcoming environment that is crucial to the emotional healing of its inhabitants. A New Way of Life will be conducting socially distanced tours of the newly renovated villa for members of the media and other invited guests. Speakers at the event will include A New Way of Life founder Susan Burton, De Paul Evangelization Center director Fr. Perry Henry, and LA County Supervisor for the 1st District Hilda Solis.
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About A New Way of Life Reentry Project
Founded in 1998 by CNN Top 10 Hero Susan Burton, A New Way of Life provides housing and support to formerly incarcerated women for successful community reentry, family reunification and individual healing. The organization operates ten safe homes for women in South Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Montebello, housing up to 83 women and children. ANWOL also works to restore the civil rights of formerly incarcerated people and empowering, organizing and mobilizing advocates for social change, civic engagement and personal transformation.
