MCPCC NEWSLETTER

(Middlesex County Prison Coordinating Committee)

MCPCC met on Feb. 5, 2002 in Newtonville. Those present were

Mary Ann Donaldson, Beverly Wilkins, Elizabeth Woodbridge, Tom

Crowther, Mary Ruetenik, Dorothy Weitzman, Margot Lindsay,

Marjorie Moerschner, Dick Nethercut and Mike Myers.

MCPCC has received a letter from the Robertsons with the

wonderful news that Robert has been reinstated as a minister in

good standing of the American Baptist Church. He has had some

serious health problems, however. We send him our prayerful

wishes for a good recovery.

Beverly and Tom attended a seminar in Brockton on evangelism,

ministry and justice, sponsored by MACUCC. Both the morning and

afternoon workshops were well attended and illuminating.

Mike Myers heads up the prison outreach programs for the

City Mission Society. He visited us over a year ago when he was

new to the area, and to CMS. Since then he has been busy finding

out what's going on in the way of prison ministry, both behind

the wall and outside, and what's needed; with making contacts

with various groups and setting up programs within the prisons.

He joined a group working inside Norfolk, his first

experience with the DOC and the state prison system.

He goes to Wednesday morning meetings at Baker House In

Roxbury, where police, social workers, local people get together

and exchange information about the community.

He's been involved with two of the special or therapeutic

units at Suffolk- the anger management unit and the substance

abuse unit- where he has led groups using the Houses of Healing

model. He has also started a spiritual journaling class with

the women at Suffolk.

His particular interest, though, is helping prisoners make a

successful transition from incarceration to the community, and in

creating new types of programs to provide them with the tools to

do so . Vocabulary I enabling a person to express feelings

verbally, is one of those tools. He has set up two programs at

Suffolk for the general prison population, "Word Power, a Natural

High" and "Your Owner's Manual For Doing Time" aimed at

increasing verbal skills and enhancing feelings of self-worth.

He found three area churches- Trinity and Old South in

Boston and First Church in Cambridge- willing to participate in a

pilot program which partners men from the community with men who

wi11 be leaving the Suffolk House of Correction. Rev. David

Grishaw Jones was also involved in the planning. Both outside

and inside partners will receive intensive preparation and

training. Starting Feb. 21, the outside partners will get four

weeks of theologically based preparation. Inside Suffolk HOC,

Mike will lead discussions for the selected men on tough issues

that they '11 face when they leave , such as relationships and

housing, and he'll ask them to write their own discharge plans,

Seven shelters have agreed to set aside beds for the men when

they leave prison. They will be provided with a T pass, clothes

and a bit of pocket money. Outside partners will provide

advocacy and will start visiting the men while they're still in

prison. When they leave, men will be expected to join a

Unitarian-Universalist sponsored support group called United

Souls, which meets at the First Church in Roxbury, and if they've

had substance abuse problems, to attend AA or NA meetings.

Input from ex-prisoners who've made the transition

successfully is very valuable and is being sought.

The pilot program will begin with 10 specially selected and

motivated inmates. This is really community, rather than prison

ministry, and it's hoped that this model will inspire others.

In addition to all of this, Mike works individually with

several ex-inmates; he works with the Stanley Jones Project; and

with youth who are on probation. Working with youths on

probation is a real challenge; it's easier to work with men in

prison.

Dick Nethercut spoke about the Alternatives to Violence

workshops at Shirley and Leominster, and the Gates Unbarred

Fellowship, started by men coming out of Shirley; it's a support

group involving ex-prisoners, their families, ministers and

churches. Dick volunteers in the prisons and he believes

strongly in the healing effect of forgiveness.

The DOC connection with county prisons is closer now. This

means that prison volunteers are supposed to follow the same

guidelines as prison staff, i.e., no contact with inmates after

they complete their sentences. Volunteers have been barred from

prisons for ignoring these guidelines.

State prisons move men around if they show too much

leadership.

Margot noted that in the 1970's, prison advocacy focused on

the prisoner, ignoring the victim and public safety. Now we need

to make the connections. The victim needs to be heard; the

perpetrator needs to face his crime. Helping prisoners make the

transition to the community makes us all safer.

Dorothy would like to have a brown bag meeting, with a number of

interested organizations sharing information and help.

MCPCC's new web address is http://home.earthlink.net/mcpcc/

Many thanks to Mike Myers and to Dick Nethercut! It was also

great to have Margot with us. This was a wonderful meeting!

The First Church of Christ in Bedford has voted to spend $100 on

dictionaries for the Billerica library. Good news!

Lee Gartenburg will be with us at our March meeting.

TIME: MARCH 5, 2002 at 7:30 PM (Business Meeting at 7:00)

PLACE: CENTRAL CHURCH, 218 WALNUT ST., NEWTONVILLE