South Carolina-wide Riley Institute award will go to reentry program for former inmates

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Furman University’s Riley Institute announced that Turn90 will receive the 2024 OneSouthCarolina Partners in Progress Award, which recognizes a landmark collaborative achievement contributing significantly to social and economic progress in South Carolina.

The award will be presented by former U.S. Secretary of Education and two-term South Carolina Governor Dick Riley at the Building OneSouthCarolina Forum on May 15 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The forum is a sister event to the Riley Institute’s annual Riley-Wilkins OneSouthCarolina Legislative and Civic Leadership Awards.

Prior recipients of the Partners in Progress Award are Spartanburg’s Northside Initiative (2022, now Northside Development Group) and, in 2023, the International African American Museum in Charleston.

Working with men facing complex reentry needs, Turn90 offers a variety of services and supports to create an opportunity for success after prison, according to a news release. Participants are previously incarcerated men who have multiple barriers to reintegrating into their communities. Turn90 works with each participant to address specific needs such as identification, transportation and housing. The men also take part in intensive cognitive behavioral classes — taught by former graduates of the Turn90 program — to learn new patterns of thinking and develop problem-solving skills.

Turn90 also offers paid transitional work in its social enterprises and job placement with competitive wages, benefits and opportunity for advancement upon graduation, the release stated. The program currently operates in Charleston and Columbia and plans to open a third facility in Spartanburg this fall.

During the forum, key stakeholders who have helped shape and develop Turn90 will speak about the nonprofit’s origins, successes, challenges and plans for the future.

Don Gordon, executive director of the Riley Institute, believes the event will share useful insights for business, nonprofit and community leaders across the state.

“Turn90 holds lessons not only for those specifically interested in the issue of re-entry after incarceration, but for any entrepreneurial leader who wants to learn how a nonprofit can successfully launch, adapt over time, and build a social enterprise to support its mission,” Gordon said in the release.

Tickets for the forum are $35, available online.

Furman University’s Richard W. Riley Institute strives to advance social and economic progress in South Carolina and beyond by building leadership for a diverse society, hosting expert speakers to broaden perspectives on critical issues, supporting public education, and creating knowledge through community solutions-focused research.