What Peer Village Is
A village is not only a bed. It is an operating system for stabilization, treatment connection, housing placement, and reentry preparation.
50-unit transitional village
Safe, structured units with a 90-180 day pathway and housing placement as the target outcome.
1 mentor per 10 residents
Mentors support stabilization, recovery navigation, court/deflection follow-through, and practical accountability.
90 days post-placement
Support continues after permanent placement to reduce drop-off and improve retention.
Resident Pathway
| Stage | Action | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Referral | City outreach, deflection, community justice, partner nonprofit, or approved outreach. | Referral record and screening appointment. |
| Intake | Risk/needs screen, consent, HMIS/data setup, OHP/resource navigation. | Individual stabilization plan. |
| Service Linkage | Detox, outpatient, MAT, mental health, peer support, benefits. | Warm handoff and documented appointment/referral. |
| Housing Placement | Sober housing, subsidized housing, partner placement, family reunification when safe. | Placement plan and move-out support. |
| Aftercare | Mentor follows 30/60/90 days after placement. | Retention, recovery, and reentry outcomes. |
Inside-Out AI Reentry Network
This is the second layer: an information and coordination engine for people inside and coming home.
- AI Secretary: organizes letters, dates, documents, calls, and family tasks.
- AI Researcher: explains certifications, programs, grants, laws, and options.
- AI Business Coach: helps build legal business plans, dispatch workflows, nonprofit models, and budgets.
- AI Education Tutor: teaches practical AI literacy and modern work skills through safe prompts and printed/CorrLinks lessons.
- Outside Operator: verifies, edits, sends, logs, and coordinates with family/partners.
Pilot Proof Loop
- Inside person sends a rough problem.
- AI/outside operator turns it into a plan, script, brief, or checklist.
- Family or partner acts outside.
- Result and blocker are documented.
- Repeatable template is added to the network.
Research Memo For Warren
This is the deeper argument Warren can use with family, sponsors, city/county staff, and serious partners. The theme is simple: Peer Village is not a shelter idea only. It is a lower-cost preparation system.
Correctional education is one of the strongest anchors.
DOJ/RAND research found that people who participated in correctional education had 43% lower odds of returning to prison and that every $1 invested could reduce incarceration costs by $4-$5 during the first three years after release.
Use this to argue that AI/business/reentry education is not a luxury. It is a public-cost reduction tool.
The status quo is expensive and predictable.
BJS tracked people released from prison in 24 states and found high long-term rearrest rates. That does not mean people are hopeless. It means release without preparation, housing, documents, services, family coordination, and work planning is structurally weak.
Family contact is infrastructure.
Prison communication costs are not a side issue. They shape whether families can stay connected, whether documents can move, whether visits happen, and whether people can prepare for release. This supports the case for free or subsidized communication, AI-assisted letters, and outside coordinators.
Local Oregon / Portland Fit
Multnomah County's deflection program, OHA housing-related supports, Portland alternative shelters, peer workforce infrastructure, and local recovery ecosystem create a possible policy doorway. Peer Village should frame itself as a stabilization and placement partner, not as a loose encampment or unverified promise.
deflectionpeer supporthousing placementHRSN/OHP verificationaftercare
Verification Gate
Do not say any public agency, hospital, university, provider, or housing partner is committed unless that is confirmed in writing. The deck should use three buckets: confirmed relationship, possible relationship, wish-list target.
Best Framing
"Peer Village turns reentry from a last-minute crisis into a managed preparation pathway."
Warren's Request Tracker
| Warren asked for | How to package it | First next step |
|---|---|---|
| Briefs/MOUs for Another Chance Rehab, City Solutions Outreach, The Peer Company, PSU, MH/OHSU, housing/detox partners | Partner-specific one-page MOU templates with role, referral flow, data, privacy, and no-commitment language. | Mark each partner REAL / POSSIBLE / WISH LIST / PRIVATE. |
| PSU evaluation contacts and outcome plan | Evaluation inquiry letter plus outcomes matrix: placement, retention, service engagement, deflection/court completion, costs avoided. | Choose one outside lead to contact PSU or a local evaluator. |
| Data sharing agreement and documentation appendix | Consent form, HMIS note, referral form, release-of-information, minimum necessary data list. | Get legal/HMIS professional review before real use. |
| Police/sheriff/DA referral strategy under deflection/court pathways | Referral pathway memo: citation/referral, eligibility screen, warm handoff, acceptance or denial reason, service connection. | Ask county/city who owns the current referral standard. |
| Lead organization design: one org or separate | Start with a fiscal sponsor or existing lead org. Build the peer/AI education arm as a program first, then spin out later if traction is real. | Do not form too many entities before funding/partners exist. |
Funding & Legal Structure
The fastest credible route is not necessarily "start a brand-new nonprofit tomorrow." The fastest credible route is a sponsored pilot with clean governance, then a nonprofit if the proof is strong.
Fiscal sponsor
An existing nonprofit can hold funds, compliance, insurance, contracts, and reporting while Peer Village is still being built.
New 501(c)(3)
Create an Oregon nonprofit and apply for federal exemption only after board, mission, finances, and compliance path are clear.
Program spinout
If the pilot proves outcomes, the peer/AI education network can become its own association, institute, or contracted training arm.
Money Map
| Source | What it might fund | Risk / condition |
|---|---|---|
| City / County shelter and homelessness funding | Village operations, site services, outreach coordination, sanitation/security/meals. | Requires procurement/RFP fit, compliance, reporting, insurance, and local political support. |
| Deflection / community justice pathway | Referral coordination, stabilization, peer navigation, court/DA follow-through. | Must align with official referral standards and cannot claim approval before discussions. |
| OHP / CCO / HRSN-related supports | Housing-related supports for eligible people, navigation, transition supports, tenancy supports. | Not a blank operating grant. Eligibility, provider status, billing rules, and CCO contracts require expert review. |
| Foundations / donor fund | Startup planning, family support, communication, books, IDs, certification fees, transportation, small emergencies. | Needs clean accounting, donor restrictions, privacy rules, and abuse controls. |
| Technology / AI social impact | AI literacy curriculum, prison-safe printed lessons, document workflows, supervised operator tools. | Must be privacy-safe, non-exploitative, monitored, and realistic about prison access restrictions. |
| Training contracts later | AI/business/reentry classes, peer workforce preparation, employer-readiness cohorts. | Only after curriculum and proof of demand exist. |
My recommendation: one lead/fiscal sponsor for credibility, one outside relationship lead for calls, Warren as inside vision lead, Dmitrii as packet/AI operator, and Travis as first AI literacy/business-education pilot partner. Build proof first, entity second.
MOU / Data / Referral Kit
This is the document system Warren was asking for. Each partner gets the same skeleton, but the role changes by partner type.
- Purpose: exploratory pilot support, no guaranteed funding or legal obligation unless signed.
- Partner role: referral, detox/treatment, housing placement, evaluation, peer training, technology, or funding.
- Referral process: who sends, how screened, what documentation is required, acceptance/denial reason.
- Data and privacy: consent, minimum necessary information, records owner, retention, and deletion.
- Service standard: response time, appointment target, aftercare contact, escalation route.
- Outcome measures: placements, retention, service engagement, completion, re-arrest/recidivism proxy if legally appropriate.
- Review cadence: monthly pilot review, quarterly sponsor report, annual public brief.
Referral Flow
- Referral source identifies candidate.
- Peer Village completes eligibility and consent screen.
- Resident enters stabilization pathway or receives denial/refer-out reason.
- Mentor creates service and housing plan.
- Partner provider receives warm handoff.
- Housing navigator works permanent placement track.
- Mentor follows 30/60/90 days after placement.
Referral Screening Checklist
| Category | Question | Document / note |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | Is the person appropriate for a 90-180 day peer-led stabilization setting? | Referral form, risk/needs screen, consent. |
| Safety | Any acute medical, psychiatric, violence, sex-offense, or warrant issue requiring different placement? | Escalation/referral-out protocol. |
| Recovery / MH | What SUD/MH service is needed first: detox, outpatient, MAT, peer support, crisis care? | Warm handoff record. |
| Housing | What is the realistic exit route: sober housing, subsidized housing, family, supportive housing? | Housing plan and retention follow-up. |
| Documents | ID, benefits, legal papers, medical coverage, family contacts, phone/email? | Document checklist. |
| Data consent | What can be shared with providers, evaluator, sponsor, and family/outside lead? | Release-of-information and consent log. |
Sample DA / Court / Deflection Acceptance Wording
What We Ask From Sponsors / Government
Fiscal / Lead Sponsor
Provide legal grant home, insurance, accounting, reporting, compliance, and contracting while the new nonprofit matures.
Referral Pathway
Coordinate with outreach, deflection, community justice, and shelter systems to route qualified residents into Peer Village.
Evaluation Partner
Help define outcomes: housing placement, retention, service engagement, court/deflection completion, and recidivism-cost indicators.
Technology Partner
Support prison-safe AI education, prompt templates, document workflows, and monitored reentry planning.
Family Support Fund
Small grants for communication, documents, books, hygiene, certification fees, and emergency reentry basics.
Business Education Track
Business presentations and AI literacy for incarcerated people who can build plans before release.
Who Leads The Conversation
Sponsors and government need a real outside contact. Warren can lead vision from inside, but someone outside must hold calls and follow-through.
| Role | Candidate | Decision Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Vision Lead | Warren | Can his name be public, or should he be anonymous for now? |
| Outside Lead | Warren's wife or trusted outside contact | Can she receive the site/PDF and speak to partners? |
| Packet Builder | Dmitrii / AI operator | Build documents, website, briefs, scripts, research, and email drafts. |
| Inside Network | Travis + selected motivated people | Identify serious use cases and pilot participants. |
| Professional Review | Attorney, CPA, grant writer, Medicaid advisor | Needed before legal/tax/Medicaid/grant promises. |
Current Operating Update
This section translates the latest inside feedback into a safe outside workflow. It avoids publishing private emails, phone numbers, legal facts, medical details, or unconfirmed partner commitments.
Trusted family lead first
Warren has identified his wife / trusted outside lead as the best first route to open links, review privacy, print pages, and help explain the project during calls.
January 2028 target
If RDAP timing holds, the earliest release target creates a real planning window: inside model design now, partner map next, outside launch plan before release.
Scarce computer time
Inside access is limited by shared computers, timers, and waiting. The packet must be short, printable, and easy to summarize by phone or video call.
Immediate next move: send the public pages to the trusted outside lead, ask her to review privacy, ask whether she can print or show the pages on a call, and collect 2-5 serious inside pilot participants.
Do not publish yet: personal emails, phone numbers, Zelle/payment details, medical facts, legal case facts, or partner names as committed. Possible partner names stay private until each person agrees.
How To Get This To Warren's People
Warren is inside, so the packet has to move through a trusted outside person. The goal is not to flood people. The goal is to send one clear link and one clear ask.
Best route: send the site link to Warren's wife or another trusted outside lead, ask her to review privacy first, then decide who can see the sponsor deck.
Transfer Options
- Website link: fastest and easiest to update.
- PDF printout: best for Warren if someone can print it or describe it on a call.
- Email packet: best for sponsors/government after an outside lead approves the language.
- CorrLinks short version: best for Warren to understand the direction without spending hours typing.
Privacy Rules Before Sending
- Do not publish wife's name, phone, email, or role without her approval.
- Do not list partner organizations as committed unless they confirm.
- Do not include legal case details, medical details, or prison details that could hurt Warren or Travis.
- Do not ask family to become a public face unless they actively want that responsibility.
Draft Letters
These are drafts only. Names, privacy, and contacts must be approved before sending.
Letter 1: To Warren's Wife / Trusted Outside Lead
Letter 2: To Fiscal Sponsor / Existing Nonprofit
Letter 3: To City / County / Deflection Contact
Letter 4: To PSU / OHSU / Evaluator
Letter 5: To Technology / AI Social Impact Sponsor
Letter 6: To Travis's Mom / Trusted Print Contact
Letter 7: To Recovery / Housing / Peer Partner
Letter 8: Short CorrLinks Note To Warren
Questions For Warren
Short bullet answers only. Warren should not spend hours typing again.
- Can your wife or another trusted person receive this site and be outside lead?
- What contacts are REAL / POSSIBLE / WISH LIST / PRIVATE?
- Can your name be public, or should the page say “founder with lived experience” for now?
- Who can talk to sponsors/government: wife, friend, existing nonprofit, attorney, someone else?
- How much time do you have left inside? Expected release timeline?
- Do you want to build new nonprofit, join existing nonprofit, or create association/business education network first?
- What is the first deliverable: executive brief, MOU map, budget, grant outline, or petition page?
Consent Gate
Do not add real names, wife role, city contacts, partner organizations as “committed,” legal details, or photos without Warren/outside-contact approval.
Research Links
- DOJ/RAND correctional education findings - education, recidivism, cost savings.
- BJS 10-year recidivism study - long-term rearrest data.
- Vera Price of Prisons - true cost of incarceration.
- Vera Price of Jails - local jail cost accounting.
- Prison Policy Initiative e-messaging report - prison digital communication costs and risks.
- Worth Rises free communication report - savings and increased call minutes.
- Multnomah County Deflection Program - local deflection and referral context.
- Multnomah County Coordinated Care Pathway Center - referral-only deflection pathway context.
- OHA HRSN Housing Benefits - OHP housing-related supports.
- OHA Peer-Delivered Services - Oregon peer support provider context.
- Portland Reedway Safe Rest Village - current alternative shelter context.
- SAMHSA peer worker core competencies - peer support values and competencies.
- MHACBO CRM requirements - Oregon Certified Recovery Mentor context.
- Oregon Traditional Health Workers - PWS/PSS/THW context.
- BOP TRULINCS FAQ - federal electronic messaging rules and funding context.
- IRS Applying for Tax Exempt Status - official 501(c)(3) application context.
- National Council of Nonprofits fiscal sponsorship guide - sponsored project model.
- OpenAI People-First AI Fund - example of AI nonprofit/social-impact funding.
- Google.org AI Opportunity Fund - AI skills and workforce-development funding context.
- Anthropic / Gates Foundation partnership - AI support for education and economic mobility context.