Dismas House Announces Co-Chairs for Forgiveness Luncheon

 Dismas House of Nashville, one of the largest reentry programs in Tennessee, celebrates the selection of this year’s co-chairs of the organization’s signature fundraiser, the Forgiveness Luncheon. The honorary co-chairs of the 2021 event are Clarke and Kevin Byard. The luncheon is helmed by co-chairs Karen and Brian Vingelen and Kelley and Bart Durham.

The Forgiveness Luncheon will be hosted Tuesday, October 5, 2021, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel. This year’s keynote remarks will be given by Dr. Remington Richardson, co-star of the critically acclaimed 2021 Academy Award nominated documentary TIME. He will be sharing about his experiences as the son of two returning citizens and his family’s fight for the release of his father who was sentenced to prison for 60 years. The program will also include remarks from community members, residents and Dismas supporters. Guests will learn about the life changing impact the program has on formerly incarcerated men transitioning back into the community.

The Forgiveness Luncheon was created to support the initiatives of Dismas House and its mission of improving lives and strengthening communities by providing the formerly incarcerated with holistic reentry programming that breaks the cycle of incarceration. The annual event raises funds to support the organization’s Four Pillars of Programming: Basic Needs, Health & Well-Being, Life Skills and Legal Support.

In April 2020, Dismas opened its brand new 24,000 square foot, 72-bed campus on Charlotte Avenue which includes 56 beds in the reentry program and 16 in transitional housing.

To register to attend the 2021 Forgiveness Luncheon or serve as a table host, visit https://www.squadup.com/events/dismashousenash or contact Jessica Guzman at jguzman@dismas.org.