Our History

Oklahoma has incarcerated more women per capita than anywhere else in the world for nearly three decades. In 2010, the Inasmuch Foundation and the United Way of Central Oklahoma convened a group of 25 community leaders to address this issue and identify an approach that would remove barriers and provide a path for more successful futures for mothers who battle cycles of trauma, poverty, and incarceration. Founded on a collective impact model and designed around comprehensive programming and support for basic needs like housing, food, transportation, medical care, mental health care, and education and employment, ReMerge was officially launched in 2011. Since that time, ReMerge has graduated 154 women who parent a total of 383 children. ReMerge has saved the state of Oklahoma more than $37 million dollars by providing a pathway for mothers to be restored to our community rather than incarcerated and separated from their children.

Launched with funding from the United Way Wayfinder grant in 2019, and with additional support from Boeing in 2020, Catalyst Cookies is designed to provide much needed job skills to support ReMerge mothers in their goal of finding employment to earn a family-sustaining wage upon graduation. The ACLU Back to Business Report states “a lack of stable employment increases the likelihood that an individual will return to jail or prison; research has found that joblessness is the single most important predictor of recidivism.”

All ReMerge moms enter the program unemployed and often have significant gaps in work history, work experience, and education. The inability to secure a family-sustaining wage threatens a ReMerge mother’s recovery and the well-being of her children. Combined with ReMerge’s education and employment programming, Catalyst Cookies builds in-demand skills around communication, problem solving, entrepreneurship, customer service, and marketing. ReMerge mothers participate in Catalyst Cookies early in their programming journey, which jump starts the development of their employment and career goals. The data from the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development shows that 70% of jobs in Oklahoma will require some kind of education or training beyond high school in the next ten years, but only 42% of our current workforce meets that demand. Through our expanded employment initiatives, we aim to ensure ReMerge mothers gain the skills needed to prepare themselves for the jobs of Oklahoma’s future and the ability to transform their families’ lives through the power of work.