Prison ministry seeks volunteers to help newly released inmates transition back into society

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SALT LAKE CITY — A new program through the state’s Corrections Reentry and Rehabilitation Division aims to help inmates nearing their release date successfully transition back into society and so have less of a chance of being reincarcerated. The program pairs volunteers with inmates to help them plan for the future outside the prison walls.

The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City’s prison ministry, which has more than 20 individuals who regularly visit incarcerated people, hopes to be able to help with this new program. To do so, however, they will need more volunteers.

“It’s one of the Corporeal Works of Mercy; we’ve been commanded to help the prisoners,” Deacon Greg Werking, the prison ministry’s assistant chaplain, said. “Think about walking out of a prison after being in for 10 years and going outside the doors and there’s no one waiting for you. It would just be awful, but I think that we can really spread the Good News by reaching out to inmates.”

The Utah prison system has a 65 percent recidivism rate; but with this new program they are working to change that statistic, Deputy Warden Brian Taylor said. A pilot program undertaken in 2014 reduced the recidivism rate of participants to 15 percent for the first year and to 30 percent after three years, he said.

Having an inmate connect with volunteers is critical to the success of his/her transition, Taylor said.

“It’s imperative,” he said. “If I have an individual inside the prison [whose] religious affiliation is Catholic, they want individuals helping them that understand their value system. When it comes to their religious beliefs, it’s imperative.”

“If people don’t feel unified, they don’t feel connected,” they will not continue to take the steps they’ve committed to in the program, he said. “If they come out and they don’t feel connected and they don’t feel like their value system is being honored, they’ll stop doing it. So if we want somebody to continue, we need to help them in the ways that are most meaningful to them. They have to unify with people that have like belief systems.”

Those involved with the ministry say it is fulfilling.

Terry Maio, a St. Andrew parishioner, has been a volunteer with the prison ministry for the past two years. A returning Catholic, the experience has helped increase his own faith, he said.

“The biggest thing I have found is that my own faith has grown because I started to serve others, the inmates,” he said. “They have helped me as much as I’m trying to help them. So just by their example, I have learned what I should be doing for people, and so that’s a big thing.”

“I think as Catholics we hear certain words in our faith as we go to Mass, and that one of the things is we need to get involved in evangelization of people,” Maio said. “When we do the Apostolic Creed, and we talk about communion of saints, that means all of us. So that’s why we go out there; they are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we can help them. And by doing that, we’re learning how to know, love and serve God by serving our other brothers and sisters.”

Volunteers for the prison ministry receive training; they are offered three opportunities to serve in the new program. The first can be done from anywhere: Over video chat the volunteer will guide the inmate in making a prison release plan and share information about resources that can help her/him after they are released. Inmates who craft a release plan and follow it may be released up to three months early.

“We’re hoping that volunteers would be willing to talk with inmates to help them come up with a life plan, once a month, just keep them on track, so that they’re progressing towards coming up with a good plan so that when they get out, they have success,” Werking said.

In the second phase, volunteers, working in pairs, will assist the inmate after his/her release and guide him/her in returning back into society.

“These teams would help them solve the minor problems that prevent them from getting jobs and housing,” Deacon Werking said. “So, if they want to get a job, but they don’t know how to do a resume, we help them with the resume. If they want to get a job and they don’t know how to interview, they help them with interviewing. They basically help them succeed.”

Catholic Community Services of Utah is partnering with the prison ministry by providing job training through its 14-week Kitchen Academy and other programs.

The prison ministry also has a need for more volunteers to visit the prison monthly, and mentor inmates via video conference or in person.

The prison ministry is hosting an informational meeting on Oct. 13 at St Vincent de Paul Parish’s Benvegnu Center for those interested in volunteering. For information contact Deacon Greg Werking at 385-430-1234 or Restorative.Justice@dioslc.org

WHAT: Informational Meeting for the diocesan Prison Ministry

WHEN: Sunday, Oct. 13, 6:30 – 8 p.m.

WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s Benvegnu Center, 1375 E. Spring Lane, Holladay

There will be pizza and drinks. For information contact Deacon Greg Werking