MIDDLESEX COUNTY PRISON COORDINATING COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

MCPCCP met on March 8, 2006 in West Newton. Present were Beverly Wilkins, Toby Frost, Lynne Sullivan, Bill Bergquist, Mary Ann Donaldson, Judith Lustig, Dorothy Weitzman, and Tom Crowther.

Mary Ann reported that the Boston Gospel Choir of which she is a member had sung recently at the Suffolk House of Correction. Separate concerts were given to the women and men prisoners there and the choir was well received by both groups.

Beverly announced that Gates Unbarred, which meets the third Sunday of the month in Shirley will have focus on the reentry of sex offenders at their March 19 meeting.

Beverly was contacted by Gerald Fowlkes, an Andover Newton student who is an intern at the Park Street Church in Boston. He was looking for hands-on prison outreach projects that college students who attend that church could do. Beverly suggested collecting used paperback books for the Billerica House of Correction or Cambridge Jail library or Christmas cards for inmates to send to their families as possibilities.

Dorothy informed us of some of the current projects at CJPC (Criminal Justice Policy Coalition) of which she is the president. See www.cjpc.org One is a list of questions she had prepared about criminal justice issues for the public to ask candidates for DA, attorney general, and the state house and senate. Another was whether we wanted to join the Coalition to Increase Addiction Treatment. A March 14 meeting at the State House with key legislators was planned. We said we favor their goals to get adequate funding for substance abuse services, treatment on demand, and insurance parity for addiction disorders.

Then we adjourned to vote on the best 30 of 50 pictures drawn by Billerica House of Correction prisoners to be framed and displayed at an Art Show at the Lowell Community Corrections Center this spring.

Are you or someone you know interested in working for social justice? We are still seeking candidates for the position of MCPCC Coordinator to replace Beverly Wilkins who hopes to retire in June. This 15-hour per month job is a paid position that includes:

• Working with a devoted group of volunteers
• Relating to the churches which support MCPCC
• Arranging speakers for monthly meetings from among the staff and volunteers at the Middlesex House of Correction
• Helping children of inmates by providing summer camp scholarships
• Bringing information on the initiatives of other groups in the areas of corrections and reentry
• Having an impact on the treatment of inmates and their families in our county

For additional information please contact our president, Mary Ann Donaldson, at maryanndon@verizon.net 617 964-1990. Resumes should be sent to her at 61 Allison Street, Newton, MA 02458. Also see our website www.mcpcc.info.

Our next meeting will be a business meeting to plan for the Art Show and to discuss the future of MCPCC.

NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12

SECOND CHURCH IN NEWTON, 60 HIGHLAND STREET, WEST NEWTON