In 1995, AMICUS began a partnership with the Minneapolis Urban League to help connect community members with African-Americans who are incarcerated. Taking the name RAFIKI (Swahili for "friend,") this new initiative encouraged many volunteers from the African-American community to reach out, one on one, and visit inmates who wanted to connect with the community in a more positive way. The RAFIKI program continues today with the original RAFIKI (described below) and two additional programs for African-American offenders, MEN OF RAFIKI (a transitional program for men) and SISTERS HELPING SISTERS (a transitional program for women).

In the RAFIKI program, inmates visit one-to-one with trained community volunteers in prison visiting rooms. By extending the hand of friendship to an inmate, volunteers help inmates feel cared about, develop trust, and try out new behaviors. Though the gesture is small, it is powerful in helping inmates develop a new lifestyle. Over 8,000 inmates and 4,000 community volunteers have participated in AMICUS programs over the last thirty years. We have seen many offenders leave prison and build new lives: working, supporting families, and even becoming community volunteers.

If you are an African-American inmate who wants to build a new life, we invite you to request a RAFIKI friend. If you are an African-American community member who might be willing to become an RAFIKI volunteer, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Male ex-offenders are also offered a Transition Support Group every Saturday morning 9am - 11am at the Mount Olive Lutheran Church, 3045 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis, one block south of Lake St. 612-827-5919. Mount Olive is located on the #5 and #21 buslines.  Network with other men facing barriers to employment, housing, and transportation.  To find out more contact Haywood Kemp, Men's Reentry Program Coordinator.

The Way of RAFIKI Sponsored by AMICUS and founded in 1996, MEN OF RAFIKI is a transitional program that helps inmates and ex-offenders explore the spirit of African-American manhood, learn to be a healthy, productive member of a community, and develop the attitudes and practical skills needed to live an independent and honorable life. Members of the community come to share their insights, inspiration, and information with these men in a series of classes, and in support groups after the class is over. MEN OF RAFIKI programs cover the following three topics:

• Developing a healthy and positive male identityWhat it means to be a healthy and productive member of a community
• Independent living skills-the bottom line of getting and keeping a job, finding safe and affordable housing, budgeting, etc.

Participants graduate from the program as African-American men with a new way of feeling and thinking about themselves. Out in the community, that results in action. Of the over 100 MEN OF RAFIKI graduates, fully 94% have stayed out of prison and built new lives of secure employment, secure housing, and family and community involvement.

Frederick Douglass said, "You must not measure a man by the heights which he has reached, but by the depths from which he has come." If you are an inmate or ex-offender, we invite you to become one of the MEN OF RAFIKI. If you are a community member, we invite you to get involved. Join us in the spirit of AMICUS' mission: to partner with offenders and communities to build new lives and create safer neighborhoods.

AMICUS currently operates 5 distinct programs: ONE-TO-ONE, RECONNECT, MEN OF RAFIKI, SISTERS HELPING SISTERS, and RADIUS.  AMICUS also participates in other programs held in the correctional facilities, such as TRAC and Stop the Revolving Door. In addition, specially trained AMICUS volunteers visit inmates in segregation and the infirmary at MCF-Oak Park Heights. For further details about the AMICUS programs, visit our Programs page. Benefits of having a RAFIKI friend: Social contact: just someone to visit you once a month and talk about mutual interests.Contact with a positive, uplifting, trustworthy person.Support for the changes you are trying to make in your life.Someone just to listen to you.Help as you think through problems, find solutions.Someone who cares about you, roots for you, and wants you to do well.A positive connection back to the African-American community. More Info Interested? Follow the following steps: Call AMICUS to tell us you are interested in RAFIKI.Talk to AMICUS staff about the program.Get interviewed by AMICUS staff about your characteristics and interests and what you are looking for in a match.AMICUS calls with options the fit your criteria, and you choose your match (volunteer and inmate each choose each other.)Write letters of introduction.Begin monthly visits at the prison. There is a minimum one-year commitment to the relationship. Volunteer Please be advised that we do have a wait list, so call us and start the process today. We look forward to hearing from you! MEN OF RAFIKI is a thirteen-week session (held weekly) at MCF-Lino Lakes. Available to African-American inmates who are nearing their release date.

"I've got a job at McDonald's in Eden Prairie. It doesn't pay much, but it's a start. I'm constantly planning my future and grateful to the people who have supported and helped me get to this point. . . . My biggest goal in life is to be a responsible Black man, to stop hurting and taking away from the community and start giving back: sharing the knowledge I've gained and helping the young brothers with their self-esteem and worth." - Derrick "I realized that I am more than just a Black man. I am a father, brother, son, provider, husband. As a matter of fact, it goes back thousands of years, farther than I can remember. I discovered that I can best lead by my action, because my children are my most important followers." -W.S. "I discovered that the approval, love and acceptance that I longed for has to start within me . . . I would like to thank RAFIKI for helping me find something I can give back to the community-myself." -J.H.

• Become one of the MEN OF RAFIKI In addition,
  • SISTERS HELPING SISTERS is a similar transitional program for women offenders.
  • AMICUS also offers the RAFIKI program, in which an African-American volunteer comes to visit you individually at the prison. This program is open to all, regardless of release date.

  Interested? Follow the following steps:

  • Call AMICUS to tell us you are interested in MEN OF RAFIKI.Talk to AMICUS staff about the program.Get interviewed by AMICUS staff about your characteristics and interests, what your issues are to make a good transition, what you are willing to give to the class.Complete application forms.Attend the class sessions, graduate, and stay in touch!
  • Volunteer

  Through 2005, MEN Of RAFIKI has conducted 25 classes with over 300 men graduating from this 12 week course. These men have gained the strength to make positive changes in their lives. We look forward to meeting with you.
  
  Projects are funded/supported, in part, by the Office of Justice Programs through the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and the Minnesota Department of Corrections.