Below is a wrap-up of our trip to the 2nd Annual Prisoner’s Family Conference in Orlando, Fla. on Feb. 25-26. We saw a miracle every minute and have 100 stories. The bullet points below are just the highlights.
Left: Laure at Extended Family exhibit with conference director Carolyn Esparaza, Community Solutions of El Paso.
At this conference we met directors of other organizations for families of prisoners from all over the country, and brought back a pile of business cards, flyers, and brochures. I’ll be posting the contact information for these organizations on our blog over the next few weeks. I’ll get our Web site Resources page updated as well. Just a couple of the organizations:
- Guiding Children of Promise, Beaufort, SC – a mentoring and educational program for children of the incarcerated through the Catholic Charities Diocese of Charleston. http://sites.google.com/site/guidingchildrenofpromise/Home, 843-982-6238
- XTreme Soulutions, Ocala, FL – a team approach to working with families and inmates, with re-entry programs and community involvement. They have volunteers who start working with inmates 3 years before re-entry! www.XTremeSoulutions.com, 352-694-4888.
- Mercy Heart, Fort Worth, TX – a church based initiative for helping families of prisoners during and after incarceration. www.mercyheart.org, 817-514-0290
Wings Ministry, Albuquerque, NM – providing fun, inspiring holiday parties for family members and inmates (they take parties into prisons too), and educational programs for families on the outside. www.WingsMinistry.org, 505-291-6412 Left: Ann Edenfield of Wings speaking at conference- A lot of the people at the conference represented mentoring programs for children of prisoners – and these folks were especially excited about Extended Family for Kids! So many of those in mentoring programs said, “We want to talk with you more about using Extended Family for Kids with our program.” Today I received an e-mail from The Family Connections Center in Concord and Berlin, New Hampshire, asking how our program can work with theirs. www.nh.gov/nhdoc.
Jerry and I were asked to talk in the Kairos Outside workshop about our own experience with Kairos Retreats. The workshop was led by Jo Chapman, the founder of Kairos Outside. - Left: Jerry talks with Jo Chapman and speaks during the Kairos Outside workshop.
Quite a few of those same folks involved in mentoring programs attended the Extended Family for Kids workshop on Feb. 26. Comments on the evaluation forms – “I’ll be using this in my program!!” – “Great! Very useful information; presented in a fun, entertaining way” – “Unreal, I loved it!” – “Will use it.” – “A great possibility. I need to turn my situation into a positive & this may be part of it.”
We had an Extended Family exhibit at the conference and talked to a lot of people who came by to see us there. We had a beautiful banner done by Model T’s, lots of handouts, our Extended Family for Kids game board, and pens to give away with our information on them. A lot of folks signed up to join our e-mail database.
Images from the Extended Family for Kids workshop - middle, a participant joins in Picture This, thinking about his future; at right, a cup of coffee teaches "It's not your fault!"
Jerry and I attended as many sessions as possible and learned even more about the impact of a parent’s incarceration on the children, re-entry programs for inmates, and special programs for families in different parts of the country.
- In one session I saw a film of children with their incarcerated dads. One boy said his dad was missing all of the firsts in his life. “Like my first time on a roller coaster,” the boy said. That seemingly “small” thing was important to this child. Another little girl said she keeps everything her dad sends her.
- One grown woman on the film talked about her dad’s incarceration when she was a child, and she is still dealing with the repercussions from that. “I’m always wondering where I fit, and if there is a place for me,” she said.
- Jerry learned about some model family reunification programs, including Pennsylvania D.O.C. Handbook for Families and Friends, Alvis House (Ohio) www.alvishouse.org using the Ohio Fatherhood Initiative, and Passage Home (NC) www.passagehome.org. Look for more of these resources on our blog.
- One of the most informative sessions for me was led by the wife of a sex offender. She covered the topic of what the family member goes through and what life is like for them now that her husband has been released. In Extended Family we have members whose loved one has been convicted of a sex crime, and I know that they are having an experience that is unique – so this workshop helped me understand much better what those family members are going through. The woman who led this workshop has started an organization to reach out to other family members of sex offenders – restorativevoice.org.
There were quite a few ex-convicts at this conference, and that surprised us a little bit, but it was good. One was a keynote speaker and told his story of re-entry. A couple of others provided Thursday night musical entertainment, and their family members shared their stories too. - There seemed to be a lot of healing going on for the participants in this conference, and we were used to bless others and to be blessed. Some of the stories we were personally involved with:
- A successful, 24-year-old man, whose father had been in prison while he was growing up, was at the conference. (In fact, he was one of the keynote speakers.) We ended up spending a lot of time with him, and he attended the Extended Family for Kids workshop. He said “This is the first time I’ve felt comfortable in a group of people, really being myself, and knowing that everyone knows this about me but it is okay.” He loved Extended Family for Kids – said he wished he had the program when he was a child – and wants to help children in Texas with the program.
- A woman came to the Extended Family for Kids workshop who had a family member incarcerated, and told us later, “That was so healing for me – especially the part about how ‘It’s not your fault.’”
- We spent time with a man who used to be incarcerated and was starting to realize that he was now in a unique position to help others
- A mother was there whose son was recently sent to prison. She was in a lot of pain, and I was able to tell her about the other moms in Extended Family going through the prison experience and offer her encouragement. Jerry was able to share his experience with her and let her know that her son could come through this and go on to an even better life.
We believe the ripples on the pond from our attendance at this conference are just beginning - and we would not have been there to drop the stone into the water without your help. Blessings to all of you.
Laure Clemons
executive director
Extended Family
256-927-7997
extendedfamily@tds.net
