To raise awareness on the challenges community members face after incarceration, Inside Out Reentry Community is hosting a free, two-day summit at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church this month.

"Inside Out has provided criminal justice forums in the past but the summit is the first time it's hosting an event of this size," Inside Out Reentry Community Executive Director Michelle Heinz said.

On Oct. 17 and 18, the Homecoming Reentry Summit will feature speakers from the Department of corrections, American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, the University of Iowa and people who were formerly incarcerated.

Speakers include Beth Skinner, the director of the Department of Corrections, and returning advocates Doren Walker and Eric Harris.

"I'm going to talk about how hard it was being in prison, coming out and finding housing, a place to work and getting myself back in the mold of living in this world," Harris said.

He said he'll also focus on what it was like was getting charged with a felony as a teen when he was involved in street gangs in Chicago about 23 years ago.

Harris said the summit is an important opportunity for the community to become aware of what people go through when they go home.

Additional speakers include assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Chicago, Mitchell S. Jackson, who will give a keynote address, and Sean Pica, the executive director of Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison.

The summit will also feature a voting rights panel with legal experts, activists and people who were formerly incarcerated providing input.

"Our community is the most successful when all of our members are successful. The American Bar Association estimates there are 40,000 different barriers that individuals face after incarceration," Heinz said. "Something we can do is building a supportive community for folks."

The Inside Out Reentry Community, located at 500 N. Clinton St., opened in 2015 as an organization serving people who have been incarcerated. They provide services from searching for housing to providing guidance on job applications and voting rights restoration applications.

Reach Hillary Ojeda at 319-339-7345, hojeda@press-citizen.com or follow her on Twitter at @hillarymojeda