Community Connections Partner: Arms Around You

Arms Around You serves currently and formerly incarcerated community members in Washington State’s King and Pierce counties through comprehensive reintegration services. (The term “reintegration” is used to describe the process of an individual building a foundation of skills, support and healing to successfully reintegrate into the community after incarceration.) At Arms Around You, these community members receive peer-based, culturally relevant, gender-responsive and trauma-informed services to address basic needs, build the skills necessary for self-sufficiency, heal from past harm and ultimately thrive after incarceration. The organization envisions a world where individuals and communities are supported and resourced to meet their diverse needs, providing accountability and healing when harm occurs.

Arms Around You’s Community Navigation Program removes barriers and increases access to basic needs, such as stable housing, food access, mental and physical health care, substance misuse support and other needs identified by the community member. The organization’s Workforce Development Program provides individualized case management, targeted skill development, education and training placement, and scholarships and financial education to establish financial independence. Its Family Reunification Program supports formerly incarcerated parents in reestablishing safe, trust-based relationships with their children through the support of its Family Reunification Facilitator and legal support in navigating the family court system to establish parental rights. Its Seeking Safety Program provides formerly incarcerated community members with healing circles to address PTSD and substance misuse by building healthy coping skills and processing harm. Finally, Arms Around You’s SAFE (Sisterhood Alliance for Freedom and Equality) Homes provide supportive housing for 14 women returning to the community from incarceration. This structure ensures women’s basic needs of housing and safety are met, while providing a stable environment for women to heal, belong, develop self-determination and build the skills necessary for self-sufficiency.

As an organization by and for formerly incarcerated people, Arms Around You’s approach is based on lived experience, shared cultural values and the strengths of those most impacted by over-incarceration. Arms Around You draws upon this lived experience to create meaningful, effective services so that those who have been involved in the criminal legal system can live full, meaningful lives after incarceration.

Community Partner Testimony: “Arms Around You’s partnership with Seattle Symphony has provided invaluable access to the arts for families engaged in our programming. These tickets have allowed our families to access life-changing music, create lasting memories, and bond through new shared experiences with their loved ones. We are grateful to the Seattle Symphony for providing this access so our families can experience firsthand the transformative power of music.”

Arms Around You is one of more than 70 partners in the Seattle Symphony’s Community Connections program, which provides complimentary tickets to nonprofit organizations across the Puget Sound region.

Coming Up Next: The Seattle Symphony hosts its first ever College Night! Eligible students can access $15 tickets to Mahler Untuxed (Friday, November 15, at 7pm). Prior to the show, students are invited to a 5:30pm happy hour, where they can mingle with other students, enjoy refreshments and take part in a Q&A session with Seattle Symphony musicians. Students can RSVP for College Night by using promo code STUDENT24 at seattlesymphony.org.