PRISONER REENTRY SPECIALIST FROM U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE JOINS EFFORT TO TEACH YOGA IN PRISONS

Kennett Square, PA – A prisoner reentry specialist formerly with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the City of Philadelphia Office of Public Safety has now joined Transformation Yoga Project.

Lynn Olesen Rosenstock has been named Director of Development for Transformation Yoga Project, a non-profit that provides yoga and mindfulness to populations at risk of trauma, including the currently and formerly incarcerated, those recovering from addiction and veterans.

“My career centers on collaboratively engaging, evidence-based practices that help people returning from incarceration to find and follow their life’s path,” says Rosenstock. “Transformation Yoga Project helps people to restore the connection between mind, body and soul, so they can have more peaceful, productive and meaningful relationships with their families, employers and communities.”

Rosenstock will develop and employ a fundraising strategy rooted in the tenets of yoga as Transformation Yoga Project expands programs to offer more free yoga classes in more jails and prisons, as well as to launch pre-certification training to become a yoga instructor this spring. Transformation Yoga Project currently serves several jails and prisons, including SCI Graterford, the Philadelphia Prison System, the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center, and Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center, as well as numerous regional addiction treatment facilities and the Coatesville VA Medical Center.

Prior to joining Transformation Yoga Project, Rosenstock served as Director of Reentry Strategy & Outreach for the City of Philadelphia Office of Public Safety, where she facilitated the development of the city’s five-year strategic plan for prisoner reentry for a coalition of more than 70 stakeholders. She also continued the work she began as Prisoner Reentry Coordinator at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where she founded and led the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition, a diverse network of government agencies, non-profits and returning citizens working to improve reentry.

Rosenstock reports to Transformation Yoga Project’s founder and executive director Mike Huggins, who was once incarcerated. Huggins, a former CEO at the center of a high-profile court case, served nine months in federal prison in Pennsylvania, where he used his long-time yoga practice in his own jail cell and taught it to fellow prisoners. Since his release, it has been his mission to make yoga a source of rehabilitation for the currently and formerly incarcerated, recovering addicts and veterans in the Philadelphia area.

About Transformation Yoga Project
Transformation Yoga Project is a non-profit organization based in Kennett Square, PA, providing yoga and mindfulness services to addiction treatment programs, veterans programs and VA hospitals, and the criminal justice system. Transformation Yoga Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose activities are funded through contributions from individuals and organizations. To learn more, visit www.transformationyogaproject.org

Editor’s note: Photos and interviews available

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Kristen Stewart, kristen@nousoma.com, cell 215-508-3004