To the Journal Editor:
As the volunteer director of IN YOUR CELL jail/prison ministry out of Wellspring Church and officed in First Methodist Church, both in Escanaba, we are seeking male volunteers to assist us in our prisoner adoption program.
And, you do not have to be a U.S. Marine. For almost a decade now, beginning in Esky, In Your Cell now operates in four Upper Peninsula counties: Delta, Marquette, Menominee, Dickenson and now all of Michigan’s 27 male prisons. We are currently personally connected to over 110 prison inmates, adopters, clergy, etc.
In 10 years, Becky, Dan, I and other volunteers have worked with, mentored, over 225 men plus many local non-incarcerated teens. I, personally, have been spending time in the Marquette County Jail and Branch Prison now well over 6 years.
Our biggest outreach program has been our Adoption Program where the men on the outside adopt an inmate to correspond with once a month by U.S. mail.
Inmates do similarly and phone calls and money are not involved. Inmates are vetted for suitability and we ask both parties for an initial one-year commitment.
Some of our inmates have been partnered over 5 years now. As of this September, we have matched 20 men with about 4 or 5 waiting.
We deal with 20% of inmates who wish to make good time use of their incarceration. Sadly, about 80% of Michigan prisoners have zero to little outside contacts, even minimal family support.
Male support, encouragement, a good role model, support of Christian values and a desire to share “guy stuff” is sought. Prison mail out can be sent to my address is desired. We have had no issues.
Volunteers can be 24, 34, 54, 74, any age. We are only seeking a willingness to benefit a fellow man who is seeking connection. Some new adopters get concerned initially about what to write about. Not an issue.
We can hoop you up with our current adopters for advice and success stories. You do not need to be local to adopt. We have adopters from Appleton, Arkansas, Houghton and downstate.
For more information, I can be reached at 906-241-7731 (9 to 9) or by email anytime, wyolaramie@yahoo.com. We hope that we are so swamped with inquiries that it may take a while to get back to you.
Men, I will get back to you gladly. Providing more information is our goal, all inquiries welcomed. No obligation. We are always in financial need if anyone wishes to contribute.
You could adopt a pet, purchase a building block, camp scholarship, etc. How about a man? A recent prison survey revealed that 100% of the 200 prisoners interviewed, all had zero or negative impressions of their fathers.
I recently asked a warden how he would describe the men in his prison, and he replied, “They are like little boys waiting for dad to come home.” Come on guys, save a man!
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
