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Tag: christianity

  • Illustrating the Life-Transforming Power of Reintegration

    This past month, you may have come across this news headline:

    Sask. woman found frozen was released from correctional centre 3 days earlier

    It is such a tragic story. This young woman had family and community who cared for her, yet they were unaware of her release.

    This post isn’t to criticize Correctional Services Canada or any particular Correctional Institution. However, as I read this tragic story, it emphasized for me the incredible contribution community chaplaincy makes.

    When an offender is released, they can be walked to the door of the prison, given their belongings and a bus pass, and simply sent on their way, if they have no one waiting to escort them.

    Contrast this with the reality that the period following an offender’s release is the most critical in terms of re-offending (rate of recidivism).

    Offenders often express that the most stressful time they face isn’t necessarily inside a Corrections Institution. As bleak as it can be, there often develops a rhythm and a pattern to institutionalized life.

    What’s most stressful turns out to be the initial weeks and months after release.

    Federal Corrections, in particular, involves longer sentence terms, and the world an offender walks out into can seem like a whole new one. Offenders not only have to navigate the complexity of navigating their own finances, dramatically different technology, housing, employment, and relationships, but rejection waits for them at every turn.

    Thanks to Google and a deeply connected world of near-instant access to information, the details of their offence are readily available to potential employers, landlords, banks, and other connections.

    Rejection, fear, feelings of inadequacy and vulnerability, and this stream of logistical challenges—and potential reconnections with toxic relationships or environments—often push parolees right back into institutionalization.

    But what if we change that scenario?

    What if, on the day of release, instead of being shown the door, handed a bus ticket or being shipped to a halfway home, there’s a familiar face waiting for them at that door? And that someone—who already has been extending support during incarceration—drives them to their destination? And they engage in the continued conversation about what the parolee can expect, and where their people and places of support will be?

    What if the parolee is introduced to a community of faith that they identify with from (before) day one? And they have mentors and places of connection that can provide support as they navigate “a whole new world” full of new or dramatically altered technology, and the need for income and housing, positive relationships, and an environment that supports healthy spiritual practices?

    In fact, when we can provide the above ingredients in an individual’s reintegration it is, with no exaggeration, a game-changer—and a life-changer—for that individual.

    The most commonly shared statistic is that when parolees are reintegrated into their faith communities upon release, there is an over 70% drop in re-offending.

    That’s staggering, isn’t it? That’s good for the individual, the community, the mentors and volunteers (because we’re always learning a lot!), and frankly, the nation!

    I am so grateful for all of our churches, faith communities, Better Life community chaplains and volunteers, whose sacrificial investment makes such a life-changing difference for the men and women we serve. Thank you.

    If you’d like to find out more about how you can volunteer, or how your church can be involved in the work of reintegration, I would love to hear from you!

    With gratitude,

    Adam Wiggins, General Director

    adam.betterlife@gmail.com

  • TH’s Story

    One of the things I love about working with Better Life Integration and Support is having a front row seat to the amazing stories of our care recipients. Viewing God at work in an individual’s life in such radical and transformative ways is such a privilege.

    This month, I’ve been looking forward to sharing TH’s remarkable story with you.

    But first, some background: Better Life works with Federal Corrections, so every offender we serve has a sentence of over two years because of the severity of their crimes. (Sentences of under two years fall under provincial corrections.)

    While in prison for his serious crime, TH had a radical and life-changing encounter with Jesus. It’s important to note that it wasn’t some mystical experience that came about in isolation, but rather was supported by the actions of some very key people. The Institutional/Site Chaplain and volunteers had a significant, invaluable role in engaging with TH—and through their engagement and example, TH encountered Jesus.

    To pause for a moment in TH’s story, this is why the role of volunteers within Corrections Institutions, working alongside Site Chaplains, is so invaluable.

    We’re incredibly grateful for the volunteers who work alongside the Site Chaplains to facilitate training such as Alpha, Purpose Driven Life, and Jim Putnam’s Real-Life Discipleship (“reproducible” discipleship, where a disciple is defined as someone who is discipling others.)

    All of the above influences were instrumental in supporting and leading the way to the experience that TH had with Jesus. But, their impact is also exemplified in what TH decided to do next.

    TH recommitted his life to Jesus and was baptized while in prison, and then, recognizing the value of what he had experienced, began discipling other offenders and helping them to find and follow Jesus.

    The influence of what Jesus has been doing in TH’s life since is almost immeasurable. TH has had the privilege of baptizing three other offenders who came to Jesus and were being discipled. 70 other offenders came out to witness it!

    In a prison culture that often can lean towards cynicism and despair, the example of TH and the others who have come to know Jesus has been far-reaching in multiple ways.

    First, while TH, now out of prison, is in a halfway house, employed, and rapidly moving towards being released from his ‘warrant,’ he continues to recognize that God’s purpose for his life is to invest back into others.

    TH recently shared with one of our Better Life chaplains how he has been struggling with painful areas in his life. During their time together, our chaplain received a phone call from an offender still with prison. TH was able to talk with this other man and encourage him in his faith, and what it means to continue to trust in and follow Jesus, especially through the restrictions of COVID-19.

    But—and this is so significant—TH not only provided support for another, through the phone conversation he gained perspective and clarity about his own situation, re-affirming God’s purpose for his life!

    As the restrictions of COVID-19 continue to ease, Better Life hopes to be able to hold several Vision Nights this fall in various locations (tentatively: Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Victoria).

    TH is going to be the featured speaker during these nights to help all of us envision how to be engaged in this valuable work of healthy reintegration!

    Please keep an eye on our newsletter or the events space on our website for updates as to when and where Better Life Vision Nights will be taking place. We hope you can join us!

    On behalf of our amazing team at Better Life Integration & Support,

    Adam Wiggins

    General Director

  • Faith Community Reintegration 101

    Over the past weeks, I have had many encouraging conversations with individuals and churches about the work of Better Life Integration and Support.

    I’m relatively new to the position of General Director/Lead Chaplain with Better Life and so, like many of you, I am just beginning to discover what the work of Better Life is all about—and what a game-changer it can be for men and women in a Federal Corrections Institute as they come up for parole and look to integrate back into the community. (Federal sentences in Canada are sentences of two years plus a day; otherwise, offenders go into Provincial Institutions.)

    Before I begin defining Faith Community Reintegration Projects (FCRP), I want to provide a brief history:

    Better Life was formed in the early 2000s and motivated by the significant difference helping parolees within the context of a faith community makes.

    Initially, Better Life functioned under Corrections Canada as a Community Chaplaincy, which involves supporting and helping parolees in halfway homes and in the community experience healthy reintegration. This also involves the valuable work of supporting the families of men and women who were incarcerated.

    Many former offenders and their families experienced the care and support of Better Life’s lead chaplain Pascal Bergeron and the team of chaplains who served with him over the years. However, in a summary of the work of Community Chaplaincy, it was noted that the number of parolees to one chaplain was 1000:1 in the greater Toronto area and 650:1 in Metro Vancouver.

    In response to this overwhelming ratio of parolees to chaplains, FCRP’s (Faith Community Reintegration Projects) were developed by Corrections Canada (CSC).

    Rustic bridge across a cascade in a wooded canyon.

    Better Life has the FCRP contract for the Pacific Region (in effect to 2025), which includes Vancouver/Fraser Valley and Victoria/Vancouver Island. There are nine Federal Corrections Institutes in the Region:

    • Fraser Valley Institute (The Only Women’s Facility | Abbotsford)
    • Kent (Maximum Security | Agassiz)
    • Kwikwexwelhp Healing Village (Harrison Mills)
    • Matsqui Institution (Medium Security | Abbotsford)
    • Mission Institutions (2: Minimum & Medium | Mission)
    • Mountain Institution (Medium | Agassiz)
    • Pacific Institution/Regional Treatment Centre (Addiction & Psychiatric Centre | Abbotsford)
    • William Head Institution (Minimum Security | Victoria)

    FCRPs offer a couple of significant benefits:

    Firstly, there is a significant reduction in recidivism when a parolee is connected with a faith community.

    The statistic I’ve heard most often is that a parolee has a 70% likelihood of reoffending (recidivism) if they are not connected with a faith community.

    That’s obviously a huge motivation for connecting offenders of faith to a faith community on their release from prison!

    Secondly—and closely connected—is the importance of the faith community in the healthy reintegration of a parolee.

    In other words, while Better Life Chaplains and other FCRP Chaplains all across Canada work actively to provide care and support to men and women who request it within a variety of different contexts and phases of their experience, the contractually mandated work of Better Life and related organizations is specifically to provide a “bridge” from an offender’s time in a Corrections Institution to a faith community.

    A faith community that welcomes and provides a growth pathway and mentorship for a parolee is the best environment that a parolee can experience for healthy reintegration back into their community and toward become a contributing member of their community.

    Better Life as an organization has a fantastic team of chaplains and volunteers who invest deeply in the men and women who reach out to us looking to connect with a faith community as they come out of the corrections institution on parole. We also extend care to the families of offenders who often feel lost and alone during their loved one’s incarceration.

    But also—and in many respects, more significantly—we partner with local faith communities who are committed, and even have a sense of calling, to provide a place of welcome, safety, and growth for a parolee, knowing that the environment they provide is a game-changer when it comes to healthy reintegration back into the community.

    In Part 2 of Faith Community Reintegration, we’ll look at where the process of engagement begins, and what the significant steps of the process are, including how volunteers can become involved inside the institution and help build that “bridge” of reintegration from the institution to their faith community.