Rockford celebrates opening of re-entry home for formerly incarcerated women

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford leaders gathered to celebrate the opening of the “Sisters by Love House,” a new re-entry home for formerly incarcerated women on the city’s southeast side.

Three women will live at the home, which has been in the works for over five years. The project was initiated by Shimere Shanklin, the housing director for “Sisters by Love,” who sauid she experienced barriers to re-entering society after her own release from prison.

“When someone is just given the opportunity, it creates a safe place for everybody. For our neighbors. For our families. For the community in whole,” said Shanklin.

“I don’t think I have a word right now to even describe how I feel right now. I am absolutely overjoyed,” Shanklin added.

Shanklin said the home provides more than just a place to stay; it offers resources such as job search assistance to help residents reintegrate into society.

The “Sisters by Love House” is part of the National Safe Housing Network, which is expanding with another home opening in Carbondale on Friday.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WTVO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WTVO staff before being published.