Project Restoring Lives
Project Restoring Lives is our most visible program - and one of our most powerful one.
Project Restoring Lives: Reentry with Dignity, Purpose, and Skill
This is CentrePeace’s most visible program—and one of its most powerful. When you walk through our doors, you’ll meet the trainees wearing lime green. These individuals are participating in a restorative reentry journey, gaining job skills, confidence, and a renewed sense of purpose while incarcerated.
They’re not just learning how to work—they’re learning how to rebuild. And every sale in our store helps fund this transformation.
At CentrePeace, restoration isn’t just a concept—it’s a daily practice. Through Project Restoring Lives, we welcome trainees from the Centre County Correctional Facility into a grace-filled reentry experience that nurtures the whole person—not just the worker.
Every Monday, our store closes to the public so we can open space for transformation. Trainees engage in:
• Personal development & financial literacy
• Non-violent conflict resolution
• Furniture restoration & workplace readiness
Each task—from customer service to refinishing furniture—is a stepping stone toward dignity, employment, and reintegration.
Restoration in Action
When Housing Transitions needed help refreshing their shelter furniture, our trainees stepped up—sanding, repairing, and customizing each chest of drawers with care. They knew someone in need would soon rely on it. That’s restoration: of furniture, community, and lives.
What Trainees Say
- “CentrePeace gave me a reason to get up in the morning. It helped me begin looking forward to the future I was planning to build.”
- “I was given up at birth and never adopted. CentrePeace has become my family.”
- “I love this place. I’m moving back to my home state, but I’ll miss everyone here. There should be a CentrePeace everywhere.”
- “I never imagined that I would be in jail, you were here for me in my darkest hour and I believe with all my heart that God put you in my path. I will always be grateful for my time here working with each of you.”
This is the heart of CentrePeace: restoring futures, families, and faith in what’s possible.
