Where Earth Meets Heaven?
In a world where you live in a 10’ x 10’ cell and have to endure a strip search to see your wife on visiting day—if you are lucky enough to still have a wife or a visitor of any kind—there is one thing to look forward to: The Mail.
2nd Chance Indiana is deeply involved in finding good jobs for those reentering after incarceration, because there is dignity in work that brings responsibility and respect to the job holder. But there is so much more we do: Job training that uplifts the soul, where testing reveals talents some of our students never knew they had. Transportation is necessary for the 58% of reentrants who have no access to a reliable vehicle. If they can’t get to work every day, on time, they quickly lose their jobs…not because they are bad workers, but because they can’t get to work without help. So we work to get grants that pay for a ride to work, so that they can keep their jobs, save money for a car, and then give up their seat in the van to someone who needs it.
Those programs are where the rubber meets the road. Training, Job Acquisition, and Transportation are three indelable hallmarks of a functioning ladder to successful reentry. And, when they have these things, they can not only succeed, they can soar.
So, what about The Mail?
It was a letter from a man named Jesse who led us to the prison ministry that 2nd Chance Indiana now has. It began a relationship that continues to this day. He calls me Mom. His real Mom wasn’t able to be there for him, and it is a privilege that he uses that word to address me. It all started with that first letter. I wrote him back, and the letters flew back and forth for almost three years, until we were able to help him get an early release.
That’s the kind of relationship that develops. First you share small victories and difficulties, and pretty soon, you are good friends who look forward to the next letter in the mail.
At this time, we are in talks with the Indiana Women’s Prison, who is allowing us to develop a correspondence program there. We are excited about the future and now are seeking women who are interested in writing to someone who could use a friend. It can be through a prison email program or through regular postal services, and you may be able to have your letters sent to your church or a P.O. Box if you’d rather keep your address private. We can set you up with a match and give you the guidelines you will need to truly make a difference.
Writing to an inmate is the most loving, life-changing thing you may ever do. It is giving without spending much more than a stamp. It is remembering those in prison, following Christ’s dictum of Hebrews 13:3. This is not where the very functional “rubber meets the road.”
It is where earth meets heaven,
Nancy
