MIDDLESEX COUNTY PRISON COORDINATING COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

MCPCC met April 2. 2002, in Newtonvi1le. Those present were

Beverly Wilkins, Mary Ann Donaldson, Elizabeth Woodbridge, Tom

Crowther, Judy Lustig and Marjorie Moerschner. Our guest

speakers were Carol Peters and Rev. Margie Saphier, who teach

Houses of Healing (emotional awareness) courses at MCI Shirley.

Program

Margie Saphier is a an associate minister and part-time

chaplain, and a member of the The Partakers, an interfaith

organization, which, among other things, sponsors College Behind

Bars. They try to recruit church congregations willing to finance an inmate in a collegiate program run by Boston University, and/or set up a committee to provide tutoring and moral support for him or her. The prisoner must apply to B.U., and if accepted, must be approved for the program by the Dept of Corrections. Norfolk, Bay State and Framingham are involved in this program. A prisoner from another facility who had been accepted by B.U. would have to apply for transfer to one of the above facilities. The cost of the program is $2500 for each participant.

The emotional awareness program. Houses of Healing, based

on Robin Casarjian's book, has been given at Shirley for about

six years. Currently Shirley is in the happy position of having

more volunteers to teach the program than are needed. We would

like to see this course given at Billerica if the prison

approves, and Margie and Carol have offered to provide the

teaching.

Carol Peters, a student at Andover-Newton, has been teaching Houses of Healing at Shirley for about a year. She was recruited by Jeanette Hanlon of Partakers. Each course starts with about 20 men; a few usually drop out, and they end up with about 15. They try to have two outside people with some experience with Houses of Healing to act as facilitators, and they encourage others from the outside community to participate as students in the course. Facilitators and visitors must commit to stay for the whole course, This is a good way to train people to teach emotional awareness and also, as Margie noted, it means a lot to the men to have this connection with the outside community. Inmates who have taken the course once often want to take it again, and they are encouraged to do so, and to become

facilitators themselves.

They meet for 1.5 hours a week for 12 weeks. There is an

officer stationed in the building nearby, but not in the

classroom. Prisoners sign up for the course, and at Shirley

there is a waiting list, Each man is there because he chooses to

be, but sometimes it is recommended that he take the class, Men

are given a certificate when they finish; this is good to have

when they go before the parole board.

Carol would like to see an ongoing program at Billerica.

with courses given two or three times a year.

In addition to space big enough for 16-20 people, a TV

monitor for videotapes and a blackboard would be needed. There

are handouts, and participants should have pocket folders to put

them in.

Houses of Healing creates a safe place where people can

express their feelings and validate their insights, and it can be life-transforming. Carol has found teaching this course the most rewarding thing she has ever done.

Robin Casarjian will donate the first 20 books for a class.

but asks that people try to get outside financing. Books cost

$10. each if bought in quantities of 10 or more. Men sometimes

like to keep their books. Reading ability is not a real

criterion for participation.

Robin is now working on a curriculum to be used in schools.

Many thanks to Margie Saphier and Carol Peters for talking to us

and for being willing to teach Houses of Healing classes at

Billerica. MCPCC would really like to see this happening and

we're excited about the possibility!

Business Meeting.

It was voted to join the Criminal Justice Policy Coalition.

The fee is $50. a year.

We are very pleased to report that we have sponsors for 3

camperships this summer for children of prisoners at Billerica!

The camp is in Maine and is only for the children of prisoners,

so that no child need feel different for this reason. The Church

of Christ, Congregational, in Bedford will sponsor one child, and Central Congregational Church, Newtonville will sponsor two from a special fund that had been set aside for mission projects.

Perhaps other churches would be willing to sponsor a whole

or partial campership for a Billerica's prisoner's child.

Tom's church, First Church of Christ, Bedford, has also donated 100 used hymnal supplements to the Billerica prison. Many thanks!

New note-cards showing Billerica inmates' art work have been prepared by Tom. They are very attractive, and will be on sale in the prison canteen and at several of our churches.

We have received generous donations from

The Congregational Church of Littleton

and from

Anne Curran

Margot Lindsay

Barbara MacKay

Catherine and Robert Robertson

Dorothy Weitzman

We greatly appreciate these gifts.

Note that our next meeting will be on the second Tuesday of May.

NEXT MEETING: TUESDAY, May 14, at 7 PM

CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 218 Walnut St., NEWTONVILLE