History & Mission
New Foundations has had the One-to-One program since
the organization’s founding in 1987. Through One-to-One, volunteers
visit with inmates at the Denver County Jail in response to inmates’
requests and work with them in a variety of ways. The informal
counseling aspect of the program reduces isolation, builds more positive
self-concepts, lowers levels of anger, helps with positive goal making,
and may explore alternative, nonviolent ways of managing conflict. We
also provide community resource referral to inmates and their families.
For instance, several inmates request and receive help in finding
drug-and-alcohol treatment centers, half-way houses, and other housing
upon their release. Volunteers have assisted some inmates with the
process of getting bonded out of jail while awaiting trial. This action
can result in the inmate’s stability and economic self-sufficiency.
This program offers hope and services that no other group provides (eg,
Narcotics Anonymous, G.E.D., church groups). Says Dwayne Burris, Denver
County Jail Program Coordinator: “This special group of volunteers meets
needs that other organizations often overlook. The one-to-one counseling
keeps tension levels down and this organization helps inmates’
families.”