MIDDLESEX COUNTY PRISON COORDINATING COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER

MCPCC met on May 20, 2003 in West Newton. Mary Ann Donaldson,

Beverly Wilkins, Elizabeth Woodbridge, Tom Crowther, Judy Lustig

and Marjorie Moerschner were present, and we were also delighted

to have with us Larry and Dawn Scott and Dawn's mother Doris Mertz from the Newtonville United Methodist Church. Our guest speaker was Carol Peters, who gave us an update on how Robin Casarjian's Houses of Healing (Emotional Awareness) program is going at Billerica.

Carol, a student at Andover-Newton, has a deep commitment to

prison ministry. She became involved in teaching Houses of Healing through Jeannette Hanlon of the Partakers. Carol and Rev. Margie Saphier spoke to us in April 2002, when we were trying to get this program started at Billerica. They were already teaching Houses of Healing at Concord and Shirley Prisons.

The program got going at Billerica early this year and has

just finished its 2nd course. Carol and Margie found Linda Justice very supportive and helpful right from the first day, when she had print-outs from the Houses of Healing website ready for the class. The prison has provided books and makes copies of needed materials.

The course started out with 10 men and ended with 7.

Attrition is inevitable because the sentences at Billerica are

short, and an inmate may be freed before the course ends. The

course has now been changed to a two-hour class once a week for

10 weeks instead of the usual 1.5 hour class for 12 weeks. The

classes are held in a tiny room in the Treatment Center, the only

space available. (The good news is that ground has been broken

for a new building.)

Houses of Healing has a spiritual rather than theological

basis. It emphasizes respect for all and provides a safe

environment in which to deal with issues of grief, anger, one's

inner child and taking responsibility. Carol said that in every

Houses of Healing course she has taught, at least one person has

had a transforming experience.

The men she teaches tend to be older and have had previous

experience, sometimes years of it, with counseling and treatment.

They are familiar with the idea and are very responsive to this

particular kind of approach; but Carol would 1ove sometime to

teach a group of younger men without a background of treatment.

There is evidence that inmates who have gone through the

Emotional Awareness course are much less likely to return to

prison. More research is being done on this subject.

Carol has always taught with a co-facilitator, as she is now

doing with Margie. She also likes to have a volunteer from the

community. A volunteer from Harvard Divinity School came during

the first course at Billerica. Volunteers attending the course

for the first time mostly just read the material and listen. In

other correctional facilities she has also had inmate volunteers,

and like the community volunteers, she will train them to become

leaders themselves. Inmate volunteers are not really practical

at Billerica unfortunately, because of the short sentences. This

makes the need for community volunteers even greater,

Volunteers willing to make a once-a-week commitment for 10

weeks are needed! If any of you are interested, please contact

MCPCC or Carol at carolpeters@earthlink.net. The next session starts in June and runs through August.

Carol is also interested in Alternatives to Violence, and

would like to teach that at Billerica after she graduates from

Andover-Newton next year. Billerica has had Alternative to

Violence courses available to inmates in the past.

Alternatives to Violence has been around for about 25 years.

It was started by a group of inmates in one of the NY state

prisons who were disturbed by the amount of violence there. A

group of Quakers came into the prison to help them, and

Alternatives to Violence grew out of that. It is experiential,

involving game s and exercises aimed at teaching communication

skills. One of the exercises asks each student to write

something positive about each of the other students.

Carol cited an interesting statistic; 85% of the inmates in

prison in NY state come from just 5 communities.

Our guests from the Newtonville Methodist Church are

invo Ived in Kairos and told us something about: it . Rairos ,

meaning "in God's time" is an international organization started

by a monk in Spain. It's about learning how to live using Jesus'

example. There are talks, followed by discussion, Kairos tries

to promote forgiveness, acceptance of God' s grace, and

communication. People build on each other' s experiences and

insights. Kairos workers are present in many state prisons,

working especially with lifers. There are none in Massachusetts

prisons however, and efforts to introduce Kairos here have met

with no response from the Dept. of Corrections. Dawn and Doris

have to drive to Connecticut to lead a group in a prison there.

We are very grateful to Carol Peters for her work at the

Billerica House of Correction, and for coming to tell us about

it. We are also glad to have learned about the Kairos

organization from the Scotts and Doris Mertz, and it was joyful

to see the recognition, respect and appreciation among these

people who are laboring so devotedly in the same vineyards.

Business meeting.

It's campership time again! Tom reported that we have

received 1/4 of a campership from the First Church of Christ,

Congregational, in Bedford, and a full campership from Second

Church in West Newton. This money goes to help children of

prisoners to attend summer camp in Maine for 10 days.

NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11 at 7 PM

SECOND CHURCH IN NEWTON 60 HIGHLAND STREET, WEST NEWTON