Confessions for the Narrow Road

Loretta Fralin - Rapp, a local author, photographer, and chef, learned of the Small Business Development Center from a program officer at the Starved Rock Country Community Foundation. When she met Amy Lambert for the first time in the Spring of 2018, she had the idea for a transitional program for people with mental illness returning to life outside a correctional environment. The two began by writing an informational flyer. That start grew into Purity Art Center, a 501-(c)(3) organization. Now collecting donations through an eCommerce website designed by Fralin - Rapp and Lambert, Purity Art Center now has offers of commercial space for the first program center, slated for LaSalle County, Illinois.

Working with Will Juntunen, a business advisor focused on content strategy, Fralin - Rapp unleashed the power of her brands through networking and social media. Thanks to robust sales of her recently published book, Confessions for the Narrow Road, the author has donated her royalties to the Purity Art Center program. Discovering mentors through LinkedIn and Zoom, Fralin - Rapp has created a pipeline that puts self-help books and inspirational literature into the hands of inmates at state and federal correctional facilities. Fralin-Rapp plans to offer the Purity Art Center as an effective model for transitional housing programs, setting up art centers and cafes nationwide. Fralin-Rapp said about her experience, “The Small Business Development Center has worked with me tirelessly and come alongside me to help me realize my dreams.”