Holliday’s Helping Hands (HHH) has been tapped by LA County to open a residential facility designed to prepare both pregnant and new moms as they reintegrate into the community following incarceration, announced HHH founder Miss Katina Holliday. Harmony South will offer interim housing in its 29-bed, South Los Angeles facility and will partner with another organization, Shields for Families, to provide the services these high-risk families so desperately need. The program is tied to the Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD), the central agency serving vulnerable justice-impacted peoples and communities in accord with the LA Board of Supervisors’ “Care First, Jails Last” initiative. Specifically, South Harmony will fall under the auspices of Providing Opportunities for Women in Reentry (POWR), a part of JCOD that aims to meet the needs of system-impacted women on their road to recovery. “We look forward to helping these vulnerable women who statistically have higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder than non-system-involved women. As a result, they are ten times more likely to engage in substance abuse in response to that trauma,” explains Miss Holliday. “We are proud to team up with POWR, which aims to address this challenge by providing case management services, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Interim Housing to system-involved women upon reentry to society.” Holliday’s Helping Hands has been recognized for its award-winning approach to serving homeless and other disenfranchised segments of society find a new path in life. Part of her strategy is helping clients develop “roadmaps” for their futures — detailed, comprehensive plans that help them hone their lifestyle skills, plan monthly budgets, job train, prepare for job interviews and become good neighbors and citizens. In addition, HHH runs the Shine Ambassador Program that requires enrollees to enroll in job training. One of the programs require them to earn their food handlers license, shadow chefs and work in kitchens in preparation for a restaurant career. There is also a property maintenance program for those who desire to work outdoors as well as in the screen printing and customer service fields. Graduates are awarded certificates of completion that serve as a source of pride. For more information about Holliday’s Helping Hands, visit www.hollidayshh.org. *****