Corrections Corner / Deacon John Cord

Gifts to re-entry ministry help those seeking employment

The archdiocese’s Corrections Ministry team received a beautiful gift from a donor this year. The anonymous donor had a nephew who was released from prison.

This man had no work clothes and no way to purchase the steel-toe boots and other items he would need to get a job in construction. This led to him not being able to secure a job in the field he knew best. He ended up homeless and desperate.

The donor did not want this to happen to other men and women, so he asked that we find a way to help men and women coming home.

We approached the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC) about the gift we received. We asked how we might be able to use the gift to help people. We learned that not having the proper work items is an issue for many women and men being released from incarceration.

IDOC has people dedicated to helping them find jobs, called HIRE coordinators. But even if employment is found, many people are turned down if they do not have the proper clothing and shoes on day one of the new job. IDOC does not have funds or a process for providing these items. So, when we discussed this new donation and what it was for, the IDOC people became very excited.

We set up a form that the HIRE coordinators send to me. I then order these items on Amazon and have them shipped directly to the HIRE coordinators. Every time I place an order, I feel like Santa Claus!

Knowing that a few simple items can greatly change someone’s life is amazing. We have provided items for more than 200 people since we started this program in July. These items include every kind of work clothing you can imagine.

The donor asked that some of these funds be used for worship aids and other religious items in prisons. So, we also have purchased Bibles and rosaries for use in the prisons and jails. In addition, we were able to use some of these funds to provide Christmas gifts for young men at the Putnamville Juvenile Center, including books, Bibles, socks and snack foods they cannot normally get.

When we first received the extremely generous donation, we thought the money would last for a very long time. However, the demand for these gifts has continued to rise dramatically. We are now receiving more than 10 requests per week.

At the current rate, we will have exhausted all of our funds by January 2024. We want to keep helping these people rebuild their lives by getting and keeping a job.

So, we need more donors to help us. For more information about how you can support our re-entry ministry in various ways, please contact me.
 

(Deacon John Cord is the Coordinator of Corrections Ministry for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. For more information on supporting the office’s re-entry ministry, contact Deacon Cord at 317-432-6604 or e-mail jcord@archindy.org.) †