When I was at the prison recently, a thunderstorm rolled in. Rain poured. There was lightning and then a loud boom. The power went out, and then the backup power system kicked in.
Changing our Lives, Healing our World
Aging is not for the Timid
My Greatest Teachers
We Can All Plant Seeds
We’ve recently celebrated Passover, Easter, Earth Day, and Arbor Day. Pope Francis died, and probably by the time you read this, there will be a new pope. We are grateful for the example Pope Francis left us. Incarcerated people were a priority for him. He visited prisons, washed the feet of the individuals there, and brought a message of hope. In his will, he left financial resources for programming at a youth facility in Rome. He also taught us a great deal about our responsibilities to nature and to care for the web of life that supports all of us.
As always, we continue to learn so much from the people we accompany in soul care. Personal relationships and caring for creation bring healing to all of us.
Healing My Soul
Kelly (not her real name) is serving a long sentence in the women’s prison. She recently told us that the regular sessions with her Restoring Connections soul care mentor are the “most authentic part of my existence here. These regular meetings are healing my soul. I’ve discovered that I have a calling.”
Most of the time, when you encounter Kelly, she smiles at you and greets you warmly. She enjoys making a positive contribution to others. “I’ve discovered a sense of purpose. I’ve learned I have value and a great deal to give. I don’t have to get through this time. I now use this time to make the environment a little better, to continually work on my own healing, and to bring good. I can’t undo the harm I caused that brought me here. But I can focus every day on helping instead of hurting.”
Kelly got permission to start a garden. For two years now, she has brought beauty into a stark environment. The garden provides flowers and fresh vegetables that they did not have before. It also gives her the opportunity to be a role model for some of the younger women who “have so much potential, but are just drifting.” She hopes to offer them a value system, cooperative experiences, and gardening skills that can help them when they get out.
Kelly told us that her ultimate hope is to foster community in her unit. We need to care about each other, recognize and support each other’s gifts, and look out for each other. She notices the joy that the garden brings and hopes that it teaches how easy it is to make beauty instead of ugliness.
Officers, staff, and other inmates stop by and offer what they can and enjoy the ongoing progress. The staff member in charge of the coffee shop for officers donates the burlap bags which Kelly fills with soil and seedlings. Others save and offer the seeds from a green pepper or tomato they just consumed for the next planting.
“Because of soul care mentoring, the time I do here is not wasted. My mentor helped me discover, the seeds of life in all the trauma I experienced. I hope I’m planting seeds for others and then they do the same for someone else.”
We’re Planting Trees
Planting season is here and through a cooperative relationship with Arbor Day Foundation, we are planting trees in memory of loved ones. One of the biggest losses in prison is the inability to “be there” when a family member dies. Even the ability to grieve is smothered. Having a tree planted in memory is a small thing, but it brings hope and life.
Gratitude
We are so grateful to the Denver Presbytery, to Community of Grace Presbyterian Church and to Central Denver Presbyterian for their continued investment in our healing work.
Re-Entry Mentoring Gives Life
Support for Spiritual Directors
Tapping Our Moral Imagination
Recognizing Soul Care Mentors
People Make a Difference
Proposition 128
If you are registered to vote in Colorado, you now have your ballot. There is a lot on the ballot, and no one can have all the information on everything, so we trust reliable sources to help us understand. Restoring Connections, from its 25 years experience working with incarcerated individuals, is encouraging a NO vote on Proposition 128.
Thanksgiving for those who have loved us
Healing our violence one relationship at a time
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is of particular concern to all of us due to its pervasiveness. Nearly one in four women and one in nine men are victims of domestic violence according to the National Institutes of Health. Domestic violence is about control over another family member and can involve physical, sexual, emotional, economic and psychological abuse.
Healing after Suicide Loss
During these early days of the fall season, we are reviewing with all our mentors and soul care providers vital information about suicide prevention and the needs of survivors of suicide loss. All of us can make a difference. Relationships are important.
If you are concerned about a friend or family member who may be at risk of suicide, call or text 988. It’s a direct connection to professional support.
Caring for Our Relationships
September is national suicide awareness month. This is a good time to remember loved ones who have been lost through suicide and to educate ourselves proactively about risks, warning factors and how to help. It’s also an opportunity to reflect on our own quality of self-care, how connected we are to a sense of meaning and purpose in our own lives and the importance of nurturing personal relationships.
Letting Go and New Beginnings
With Gratitude..
August 17 is National Nonprofit Day. This is an important opportunity to learn more about nonprofits and to celebrate their important contributions. Nonprofits play a vital role in community development. They provide essential services that would otherwise be unavailable. They provide direct services like food and shelter and supportive services like skills training and mentoring. They foster the culture of the community. They inspire and bring people together to heal, to challenge, to advocate for change and to ensure the common good. Communities with strong nonprofits score higher on societal health, positive lifestyles, community stability and social cohesion.
25 Years of Volunteer Service
I’m personally celebrating 25 years as a volunteer working with people during incarceration and re-entry. It was August 1999, when Restoring Connections began volunteer programs in Denver Women’s Correctional Facility. Since that time, we have companioned over 1,350 individuals during incarceration and re-entry. Ninety-four percent of the individuals who have been released remain successfully in the community and are employed, completed some kind of training or schooling and some are homeowners.
With Gratitude for our Elders
During July we had the opportunity to recognize and to reflect on the gifts that grandparents and elders bring to the community. We enjoyed our in-person and online workshops on grandparenting as well as the opportunity to share in writing some important research on the impacts of this special relationship.
