Several participants from the ASPIRE MO program attended a reunion in St. Louis on Sunday, January 29, 2023. They enjoyed a Prison Performing Arts Company play and dinner at IMO’s pizza. The ASPIRE MO program was previously hosted at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Mo.
Several organizations were represented at the reunion, including the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the Missouri Women’s Council, Connections to Success, and the Central Workforce Development Region.
Launched in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Corrections Reentry Unit, ASPIRE MO is a 20-week program for justice-involved women. The program helps women work on their entrepreneurial dreams while still in prison. They launched their pilot program in December 2018 and graduated their first class of participants on June 5, 2019.
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The core of the 20-week program is based on Missouri Women’s Business Center’s LaunchU program. LaunchU is a nationally recognized, 36-hour intensive business planning course developed at Southeast Missouri State.
In December 2020, ASPIREMO graduated their second class, including Jean Solis, who was finishing up an 11-year sentence. Solis was offered a position with the Central Workforce Development Region. She served as a Peer Support Specialist through the Missouri Works Together grant, assisting others being released from prison. When the grant ended, she was offered full-time employment as a career counselor with the Central Region.
Shortly after the 2020 graduation and only two weeks into the new class, all programs were shut down due to COVID-19. However, the Missouri Department of Economic Development Executive Director Kellie Ann Coats stated that a new phase of the ASPIREMO program is currently in the works.
“What an amazing day celebrating our ASPIREMO Entrepreneurship participants in St. Louis,” said Coats. “These women continue to accomplish great things despite many obstacles. We are grateful for our Missouri Women’s Council members and volunteers who have supported these ladies from the beginning. We missed many who couldn’t make it to the Lou but felt them in spirit!”
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Photo Credit: Missouri Department of Economic Development Executive Director, Kellie Ann Coats.