While bubbles floated through the air and children’s giggles reverberated along the street, formerly incarcerated individuals addressed stigma and narrowed the gap with local community members.
“We believe that people that are closest to the problem are closest to the solution,” Chris Perry, a veteran fellow at Community Spring, said.
Community Spring, a grassroots economic justice organization, hosted its first annual block party in downtown Gainesville this month. The event featured local vendors, bands and various activities for kids. The block party is part of the organization’s narrative change work and encourages locals to meet Community Springs members with past records.
“Come out here, meet us, see who we are,” Kelly Lynch, operations manager at Community Spring, said. “And especially come if you think that you have assumptions about the kind of people that we are.”
The organization focuses on disrupting the cycle of poverty and mass incarceration through its fellowship program and advocacy work, which offers formerly incarcerated people employment and opportunities to influence policymaking.