Exodus Ministries is a Dallas

Dallas, Texas

Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

-based non-denominational Christian former prisoner rehabilitation

Rehabilitation (penology)

Rehabilitation means; To restore to useful life, as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity....

 organization, which attempts to help those who are released from prison

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

 back into society at large. The organization is not affiliated with Exodus International

Exodus International

Exodus International is a non-profit, interdenominational ex-gay Christian organization founded by Michael Bussee, Gary Cooper, Frank Worthen, Ron Dennis, and Greg Reid...

, an ex-gay

Ex-gay

The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...

  organization.

Focus of the organization

Their primary focus, as described on the group's website, is "to assist ex-offenders and their families become productive members of society by meeting both their spiritual and physical needs." Exodus Ministries claims three primary objectives: reducing the number of ex-offenders who become homeless

Homelessness in the United States

Homelessness in the United States has continued to remain a focus area of concern of social service providers, government officials, and policy professionals since its resurgence among many types of individuals and families. The number of homeless people further grew in the 1980s, as housing and...

 and unemployed, as well as the number of those who return to a life of crime and eventually end up back in prison; helping ex-offenders obtain employment and managing their finances so they can re-establish a positive, self-sufficient

Self-sufficiency

Self-sufficiency refers to the state of not requiring any outside aid, support, or interaction, for survival; it is therefore a type of personal or collective autonomy...

 lifestyle; and reuniting ex-offenders with their families and teaching them the life skills

Life skills

Life skills are problem solving behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life...

 necessary for daily living through counseling and training services. In at least one notable case in 1996, Exodus Ministries rendered assistance to a non-ex-offender in need.

Funding and support

Exodus Ministries is supported by local churches and non-profit foundations.

Exodus garnered some national attention in October 2005 when it was announced that United States Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers

Harriet Miers

Harriet Ellan Miers is an American lawyer and former White House Counsel. In 2005, she was nominated by President George W. Bush to be an Associate Justice of the U.S...

once served on the board of the organization.