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RCAN Returning Citizens Assistance Network

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How We Help

Practical support when timing matters most

RCAN coordinates short-term, high-impact support that helps returning citizens stabilize and move forward.

Support pathway

A community mural featuring hands and symbols of shared care, representing collective support for neighbors in transition.

Requests come through the DC Public Defender Service. RCAN congregations then coordinate practical, short-term support that helps people stabilize quickly and move toward longer-term reentry goals.

  1. 1. Request received

    RCAN receives a specific short-term need through the DC Public Defender Service. All individuals are people PDS represents or has previously represented.

  2. 2. Network mobilizes

    RCAN shares information with the full network. Each congregation determines whether it is able to help with a particular request — then coordinates volunteers, resources, or funding.

  3. 3. Stabilization

    Immediate barriers are reduced so individuals can focus on longer-term reentry goals — housing, employment, and community.

Most weeks, RCAN coordinates one to two urgent requests through the network.

Our Impact

Holiday Gifts at the Youth Services Center

Holiday gift bags prepared for detained youth at the Youth Services Center.

RCAN-supported attorney Kayla Wyatt gave small Christmas gifts to 120 detained juveniles at the Youth Services Center.

RCAN volunteer Connie marks birthdays and holidays throughout the year, delivering homemade cakes and small celebrations to PDS clients so no one marks the day alone.

A lot of the kids at YSC have been away from their families for a long time and, some, are away for the first time during the holiday. I cannot imagine how awful that is. But Kayla found a way to make their holiday season just a little better by making every kid at YSC feel loved and cared for.

— DC PDS

Beauty Behind Bars: The Transformative Power of Arts in Confinement

Hosted at Studio Gallery in January 2025 and curated by Anokhi Shah and LaVander Williams, Beauty Behind Bars featured art and poetry by PDS clients, including Fernard Strowbridge, Arlis Hicks-Bey, Curtis Dickson, David Watkins, Harry Ellis, Keith Starr, and others.

The exhibit invited audiences to see resilience and humanity beyond incarceration. RCAN churches later hosted the collection locally, and PDS attorneys used this context in advocacy tied to release efforts under the Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act.

Tough times do not last, but tough people do. My mantra is positive consistency, striving to do right regardless of one's circumstances.

— Fernard Strowbridge

Bike Ministry

Manuel Vera, 74, restores donated bicycles in Silver Spring and gives them to refugees, immigrants, and returning citizens who need dependable transportation for daily use.

What began as neighborhood tune-ups during the pandemic grew into a word-of-mouth network of donors and recipients. In 2025, he completed his 1,000th restored bike through RCAN-connected requests and continues matching available bikes to community need.

To donate an unused bike or request more information, email manvera@yahoo.com.

"As long as I'm getting bikes and people want bikes, I think I'm going to keep this going for quite some time."

- Manuel Vera

Prison Friendship Project

About 4,000 people from Washington, DC are scattered in federal prisons across the country. Most are incarcerated hundreds of miles from their families, in conditions of isolation and deprivation that are hard to imagine. Many have served long sentences and lost contact with family and friends. A human connection from the outside offers hope, affirms their humanity, and helps set the stage for successful reentry.

To increase personal connections between RCAN supporters and DC PDS clients who are currently incarcerated, RCAN created the Prison Friendship Project. Any individual — or small group — who would like to become a "Prison Friend" will be matched with a PDS client serving a sentence in the Bureau of Prisons.

What Prison Friends do

  • Learn about the background and current situation of the person they are matched with
  • Build a relationship through letters and reading materials
  • Give gifts on special occasions to the person's commissary account — providing access to food, drinks, toiletries, and personal items
  • Provide assistance in any other mutually agreed-upon way as the relationship develops
  • A single committed person can be just as meaningful as a group.

RCAN fun

Beyond urgent requests, RCAN's network shows up for the lighter moments too — holiday gift bags, freshly restored bikes, and the volunteers who make them happen.

Join this response network

RCAN depends on congregations and supporters who can respond when urgent needs arise.

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