Coming Home Reentry Resource Fair
Hennepin County Library
Innovation Synopsis
Hennepin County Library’s inaugural Coming Home Reentry Resource Fair took place on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at Minneapolis Central Library. Organized by Martha Hardy and Robin Turnblom from Hennepin County Library in collaboration with Leila Hussain and Quinten Osgood from community partner Twin Cities R!SE, the fair’s aim was to reduce systemic barriers to employment, technology, and basic needs for justice-impacted individuals – especially those who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color. The fair provided attendees with the opportunity to meet fair chance employers, enroll in free job training programs, build skills during workshops on personal growth and interview prep, receive 1:1 job support, and connect with 30 community resource providers in the areas of housing, healthcare, childcare, low-cost computers, internet, phones, and more. The fair demonstrated how libraries can center the voices of justice-impacted people and empower them to achieve their own aspirations.
Challenge/Opportunity
Justice-impacted people face significant challenges as they reenter society after incarceration, including finding employment, learning digital skills, accessing technology, getting connected to stable housing, and more. According to Minnesota's Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), barriers specific to finding employment include a lack of job training, bias in hiring, a quickly-changing job market, and lagging digital skills due to a lack of access to technology during incarceration.
According to HCL’s Outreach Services department, one third of everyone leaving a Minnesota state prison will reenter society in the Twin Cities Metro area, and of people leaving the Hennepin County Adult Corrections Facility, Minneapolis Central Library (MC) is the number one library frequented. Therefore, MC is uniquely positioned to address some of the challenges that justice-impacted people face because it is highly likely they are already visiting the library.
Key Elements of Innovation
The goal of the Coming Home Reentry Resource Fair was to provide justice-impacted individuals with a one-stop opportunity to access resources for overcoming systemic barriers to employment, technology, and basic needs. Twin Cities R!SE was a key partner and helped the library with innovative community engagement during planning for the fair by holding a focus group with justice-impacted individuals. This focus group provided a community lens, and shared that, for them, social anxiety, biased employers, and a lack of transportation and childcare were barriers to a successful fair. In response, the library included Event Navigators at the fair to create a welcoming, stress-reducing environment, vetted hiring fair employers to insure they were fair chance, included children's activity stations at the fair, and partnered with Metro Transit to offer free bus passes on the day of the fair.
Please see the attached program for the fair's schedule and a full list of resources and partners.
Achieved Outcomes
The desired outcomes for the Coming Home Reentry Resource Fair were that justice-impacted individuals would visit the library, engage with library staff and community partners, and learn about jobs, technology, and basic needs resources available to them. The fair achieved those desired outcomes as seen in the following statistics:
Over 300 justice-impacted individuals attended
More than 800 conversations took place between the 24 exhibitors and attendees
More than 200 conversations took place between the 8 fair chance employers and attendees
33% of attendees indicated plans to sign up for job training
Attendees also shared the following feedback:
“This is what I love about the library! Treats everyone equally, no matter what they are going through!”
“Gave me insight to not give up… something out here for everyone.”
“Loved the speakers, the advice/feedback, and the honesty and resources.”
“Got to learn about multiple trades. Panelists were also great!”
