Reentry Theatre Group Holds Goodbye Party For Co-Founder Sarah K. Chalmers

According to WENY, Civic Ensemble held a goodbye party on Sunday for co-founder Sarah K. Chalmers, and introduced their new Executive Director Julia Taylor.

The party was held for members of the Reentry theatre program, a theatre group for previously incarcerated individuals to write and act out stories of their lives.

Cassandra Ponton, Reentry theatre counsel member, considers the group to be like a family.

"When I got sent to rehab, I felt like I had betrayed them because we were a month away from the production," Ponton said. "A lot of them wrote to me while I was in rehab. They brought me clothes that I didn't have and when i came back they were really welcoming."

"There is such a stigma around addiction in general and I think people forget that we're humans," Ponton said. "Like we didn't just wake up one day and decide that we were going to become a junkie."

The group will be producing plays in the future. To get involved or attend a performance, visit civicensemble.org.

Read the original story on WENY.