There are 436 parolees in the Dalton area, according to Gale Buckner, vice chairman of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles.

“Most of them are people that we know or we know their families,” she said.

But those parolees are released with just the clothes on their back and $25 in their pockets. Parole officials say these individuals often lack job prospects, transportation and the sort of support needed to keep them from going back into crime.

That’s why the parole board is looking for faith-based organizations to help those parolees make their way back into society.

“The first 90 days is so important,” said Buckner. “Our faith-based community is very aware of that, that we want these people to come back into our community and be successful taxpayers and citizens, and the faith-based community has stepped up to make that happen.”

Buckner, a Murray County resident, brought the board’s faith-based initiative to the area last October, with a meeting at Chatsworth’s Holly Creek Baptist Church. The board was looking for churches and other organizations with resources that parolees can tap into for assistance.

The result was Project DESTINY (Dalton Entering Servanthood to Inspire a New You)

On Thursday, parole board employees and faith-based officials met again at Dalton’s True Gospel Pentecostal Church to see how the effort is going.

Those attending the event saw the first draft of a booklet with contact information for places in Whitfield and Murray counties that parolees can turn to for help getting ID cards, clothing, substance abuse and other counseling and employment.

Many of the organizations in Project DESTINY have long been involved in efforts to minister to parolees and those in prison.

Bishop Reuben Graham of True Gospel Pentecostal Church spoke of his church’s efforts to provide transportation for parolees looking for jobs or to their jobs.