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The program was co-founded in 2012 by Mo Korchinski, who is known as the “Mother Teresa” of ex-inmates, for her hands on approach to helping women find medical help and access to recovery. The program was also developed by Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin and Dr. Patricia Janssen.

The latest study was authored by Katherine McLeod, Elwood Martin, and Korchinski at the University of B.C.’s School of Population and Public Health.

Between 2013 and 2018, women released from the Alouette Correctional Centre for Women were invited to take part in the program. Over that time, 172 women signed on, and at the end of three-day mentoring, 105 had completed the surveys. Of those women, 53 per cent were Indigenous, and 80 per cent had children. Sixty-one of the women reported that it was not their first time in prison.

The researchers analyzed survey and interview data and found that overall, 93 per cent of participants reported that their peer health mentor assisted them in accessing community resources, and 90 per cent said their mentor helped them achieve the goals they had before they were released.

A majority of women (63 per cent) required access to income assistance and of these women, 83 per cent reported that their mentor accompanied them to obtain it, according to the study.

The most commonly identified factors that women agreed would help them following release were: Money to buy necessities (87 per cent;) Someone to talk to about the things that worried them (86 per cent;) Housing (85 per cent;) Medical care (85 per cent;) and a real friend (85 per cent.)