The Benedict Center is an interfaith nonprofit agency working with victims, offenders and the community to achieve a system of criminal justice that is fair and treats every person involved with dignity and respect. At the Benedict Center, there are many ways for every person who champions human potential, human dignity, and human rights to make a personal difference. This is a place where a passion for justice runs deep, underscoring our belief that change is always possible and transformation a reality.
The Benedict Center Goals
The Benedict Center’s direct services and systems advocacy serve as interwoven and mutually reinforcing efforts designed to create measurable progress toward the following goals:
- Reduce the risk of recidivism and increase the life skills, education, employment, and positive social structures of women in conflict with the law.
- Ensure that women and men leave the Benedict Center with the courage, confidence, knowledge, and ability to create a healthy, safe and nurturing environment for themselves, their children, and their communities.
- Partner with community leaders, residents and other advocates to effect systemic change in the criminal justice system and to reframe mental illness, addiction, and prostitution as public health concerns that merit treatment, rather than as criminal issues that result in incarceration.
Primary Benedict Center Partners
The Benedict Center has established strong credibility for success within all sectors of the criminal justice system, as evidenced by ongoing referrals from the District Attorney, Courts, Jail and House of Correction, Wisconsin Department of Corrections and the joint project with the Milwaukee County Day Reporting Center. The partners for the Sisters Project include: the 3rd District Milwaukee Police Department, the District Attorney's office, Sisters South Advisory Council, and researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin. The Benedict Center is also grateful for the support of foundations, community members, churches, religious organizations, and corporations. These programs could not happen without the courage of our participants, the dedication of our community partners, and the expertise of our staff, volunteers and interns.
