After leaving TEDI, Melissa wished to address the needs of formerly incarcerated persons, their families and communities, so she created Reentry Strategies Institute (RSI), a nonprofit whose mission is to design, support and advocate for effective and affordable reentry programs. RSI is currently working to increase the capacity and sustainability of social service providers, government, community and formerly incarcerated persons through demonstration projects, national coordination and collaboration, and resource development support.
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The success of Melissa Bradley's non-profit organization, "The Entrepreneurial Development Institute," is proof of the power behind the age-old cliché. Crises facing youth in underserved communities, such as drugs, crime, poverty, and academic underachievement, are often dealt with using the "band-aid approach:" temporary fixes for long-term problems, like a band-aid on a broken bone.
