Reentry that Works!
"A little over two weeks after I got out of jail, I was given a second chance—and that opportunity changed my life."
—Jeremy Hayse
Our prisons are filled with many who suffer from mental health issues and/or substance use problems. Can we do better to help people who are troubled by these serious maladies? And can we address the trauma that often goes along with both?
"My life was created with purpose and meaning. Today I am a new creation and I pledge my life to serve Jesus Christ…"
—Michael Tunstall, DOC #210343
In the midst of thousands of those who came downtown to see the fireworks, hundreds more came to cause trouble. After midnight on July 4th, there was a mass shooting below the Artsgarden at Washington Street and Illinois. One of the city's spiritual leaders was quoted by WISH TV, saying that "pointing fingers solely at parents is both unjust and ineffective." He might be right, but to whom else should fingers be pointed?
"I'm privileged to have experienced incarceration."
—Jason Lee Bayles #A302843
"I believed a lot of the enemy's lies over the years, [I believed] that I would never amount to anything, I was a nobody and could never achieve anything…"
—Trish
While comedy allows us to laugh at our shared frustrations in life, like the issue issue of technical conundrums, those are minuscule problems next to the challenges of reentering after a long prison sentence. Reentrants don't have a "password."
William Bumphus II was raised on the west side of Indianapolis in dire poverty. He has been arrested 23 times, has been sentenced to three prison terms and many jail terms in Indiana. Today, he has a Doctorate in Divinity, has traveled to more than 550 prisons around the world.
"Don't you realize you're violating our privileges here? When we're asked to leave, we leave!"
—Charles Coleson
"I remember the sinking feeling when the mail cart would pass my cell. The squeak of the wheels passing reminded me that I did not matter to a single person outside that concrete box."
—Anonymous
