Knowledge Bank

The guiding hallmark of the correctional system has long been punishment for committed crimes in efforts to deter individuals from offending again. Yet, the twenty thousand individuals released from state and federal prisons in Ohio each year are faced with challenges such as unemployment, poverty and lack of access to physical and mental health care. These barriers make the conditions in which they are to return effectively impossible to succeed in, and often result in recidivism. The city of Franklinton is no exception to these circumstances. With a population of eight thousand, high rates of poverty, crime, and chronic disease, it is no surprise that for every thousand adults in the community, fifteen are incarcerated and 39% of ex-offenders are reimprisoned within three years. For these returning citizens to have a successful re-entry, these obstacles need to be addressed in a way that is supported by the community in a mutually beneficial relationship. Raising the Bar is an interior design proposal for a community fitness center that is employed by formerly incarcerated adults trained to instruct individual and group fitness sessions. The space will offer nutritional education courses to maximize food assistance options as well as counseling and support group spaces for mental health and substance abuse services. Providing employment and health services to the formerly incarcerated not only means decreases in crime, but it also increases the successful re-entry rate for ex-offenders. Although a speculative project, primary and secondary research was done to support my thesis proposal that a space such as this has the capacity to advance the study of interior design for social impact by cultivating an environment that encourages health in a community facing high chronic disease, destigmatizes the formerly incarcerated, and breaks the recidivism cycle.