U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission, Charlie J. Franta III has officially opened “Foreign Exchange”, a barbershop in Diego Martin with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy. Foreign Exchange aims to increase citizen security by equipping formerly incarcerated individuals with marketable skills, helping them secure stable employment and reducing the risk of recidivism.
The U.S. Embassy partnered with the nonprofit Incarceration Nations Network (INN) and the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service to establish the barbershop. The embassy invested US$18,000 to fund barbering courses for 15 youths incarcerated at the Youth Training and Rehabilitation Center (YTRC), and 10 formerly incarcerated adults, and to provide essential equipment and supplies.
The Foreign Exchange barbershop will offer free haircuts to the public and train formerly incarcerated individuals in barbering.
Mr. Franta said, “The U.S. Embassy is proud to support this initiative that makes America stronger by reducing recidivism. By providing career alternatives to formerly incarcerated individuals, we hope to reduce crime, improve citizen security, and make Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean, safer and more secure.”
Acting Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Elvin Scanterbury and senior leaders of the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service also attended the opening.
