Life Learning Center recently hosted its annual Reentry Resource Night, a family-friendly event filled with practical reentry resources, supportive connections, and pathways to opportunity for individuals working to build a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.
This event serves as a powerful testament to the strength and transformational power of the human spirit. Together, the community stood against the challenges of poverty, substance use disorder, and incarceration, offering a platform for those who have overcome these obstacles.
“My personal goal is to inspire our community to more fully support those reentering into society. These individuals aren’t strangers — they’re our neighbors. Their success is our success, and we all benefit when we choose to invest in their future,” says Robert Venable, Reentry Resource Night Committee Chair.
Each year, the committee selects a Reentry Champion. One who has dedicated their life’s work to public service. This year, Kenton County Police Officer Michael Richman, who serves as a Quick Response Team (QRT) Officer, received this award.
“Mike Richman exemplifies the very best of community policing. His commitment to helping individuals battling substance use disorder and those reentering society after incarceration shows that true public safety starts with compassion and connection. The ‘Reentry Champion’ award is a well-deserved recognition for his tireless efforts to break cycles of incarceration and offer people a real chance at a better future. We are incredibly proud to have him as part of our department,” says Spike Jones, chief of police, Kenton County.
Mike Richman sits on site at Life Learning Center in Covington and leads the organization’s Multi-Disciplinary Recovery Reentry Team (MRRT). The MRRT was developed to be a community-driven accountability team that provides care interventions and resources in association with the judicial process, minimizing convictions and incarceration with the goal of reducing recidivism.
Life Learning Center helps those struggling with poverty, unemployment and hopelessness choose a better career path for themselves and their families. The organization’s program, Foundations for a Better Life, is a comprehensive approach that equips individuals with the tools they need to rebuild their lives. It includes life skills classes across five essential domains—physical, financial, emotional, relational, and spiritual—along with career readiness training and direct job placement. In addition, participants receive vital care resources such as food, transportation, and housing stipends—everything someone might need to regain stability and confidently reenter the workforce.
Seventy nonprofit partners and social service agencies across housing, education workforce development, among other came out to make the event one to remember.
Event sponsors included WellCare of Kentucky, Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, St. Elizabeth Physicians, Sun Behavioral Health, Brightview, Kentucky Department of Corrections and Mental Health America.
Life Learning Center