Nonprofit celebrates 10 years of helping people readjust after incarceration

Inside Out Reentry Community celebrated 10 years of service on Saturday with a free concert at Chauncey Swan Park.

Published: Jun. 1, 2025 at 7:07 PM CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - Inside Out Reentry Community celebrated 10 years of service on Sunday with a free concert at Chauncey Swan Park.

The nonprofit helps people readjust to life after incarceration.

“We help people from the inside out and we don’t judge,” Inside Out volunteer Jerad Nylin said.

Nylin has volunteered at Inside Out Reentry Community for a year.

He said he volunteers because he wants to get people the help his mom never had.

“My biological mother had some issues going through the system, in and out of prison and jail. So having some supports in her life would have a world of a difference,” Nylin said.

Inside Out helps people both while they’re in jail and after they’re released.

“Folks are in a state of reentry for at least six months as they’re ticking everything off of their list, trying to get maybe a state ID or license back, or saving some money, getting into housing. It takes a lot of time and support,” Inside Out Executive Director Michelle Heinz said.

In the last 10 years the nonprofit has helped a thousand people in the Johnson County area.

“I think the number goes up each year because the more we’re around, the more people refer to us. There’s more and more people that are trusting us and really I’d say our biggest referral source is people who have received our services before,” Heinz said.

Nylin said without Inside Out, many people may not get the help they need to avoid jail again.

“I call it the spiral of incarceration where, they do a crime, get convicted, they go to jail, do their time, get rehabilitated in jail. But then when they get back out it just spins around and around. The cycle never ends,” Nylin said.

Nylin said he’s been able to use his experience to help a man stay out of jail.

“I was able to encourage him by my story. I said: ‘Think about your kid when you’re making these decisions. Do you want your kid to visit you in prison or jail?’,” Nylin said. “It was able to resonate with him in and I believe that he’s doing very well,” he said.