Prison Volunteer
Insider Info
Each year, thousands of people are sent to prison for breaking the law.
For some, the crime they have committed may be as simple as robbery. For others,
it may be as serious as murder. Regardless of their offense, criminals are
people, too. And they need human contact.
To help them get the contact they need, prison volunteers give a few hours
of their time each month to simply visit with prison inmates. A prison volunteer
might volunteer for one or two hours a week, one or more weeks per month.
The volunteer will spend time talking to, listening to or playing games with
an inmate.
The most common way to find prison visitation programs is through a church
or religious organization. These organizations carry their religion to the
inmates to help them find faith in what they often look upon as a world without
hope or faith.
There are secular, or non-religious, organizations that also have volunteer
programs for people who would like to visit prisoners. These are usually private
organizations or state-sponsored human services programs.
The most important duty that a prison volunteer has is to be objective
and open-minded when visiting with inmates. The volunteer is there to provide
the inmate with support and a link to the world outside of the prison.
There are benefits for the prisoners, too. In many cases, the volunteer's
visit is the only contact the inmate will have with the world outside the
prison walls. And the volunteer may also be the only friend that the inmate
has.
Thousands of people are put into prisons each year. Many of those people
will spend the rest of their lives in prison. Others will be out within a
few years. Volunteers are the lifelines that all of those inmates have to
the outside world.
Carolyn Hickey became a prison volunteer when she decided that she wanted
to know how the prison system worked. "I wasn't sure I agreed with the prison
systems," she says. "So when a prison program was being set up here I volunteered
for it." That was six years ago and Hickey is still a prison volunteer.
"Lots of nice things happen," she says about her experiences as a volunteer.
"I've had a couple of calls from people who I spent time with in prison once
they get out. One young man called me to thank me. He said he found it easier
to talk to me than to his counselor and that I helped him a lot."
Lennie Spitale is a prison volunteer and a volunteer coordinator. "A common
joke here is that you'll volunteer for a few months or you'll volunteer forever.
You either love it or you don't. And it shows."
Spitale loves volunteering so much that he doesn't want to get away from
it even though he is also a coordinator. But he admits there is one thing
that he doesn't enjoy about volunteering. "Sometimes the correctional officers
make it a difficult job. The staff security views you as someone who gives
them more work and someone who needs watched over, and so sometimes they'll
give you a lot of grief."
The process can be difficult for volunteers if they aren't helped along
the way, says Bill McMunn, program administrator for the Match Two Prison
Outreach program. "If you send someone to a prison on their own and they fumble
around trying to get through the admittance process, they probably won't get
in."
Instead, McMunn's program guides their volunteers through the initial process.
"We tell our volunteers not to judge everything on the first visit," he says.
"For some inmates, this is the first visitation they have had for years,
and when they are brought into the visitation room for the first time, they
will be preoccupied with the sights and the people." But it doesn't take long
for them to warm up.
"Over time a trust will develop," McMunn says. "Inmates realize that the
volunteer comes to visit because they want to, and then they open up and tell
them things that they don't even share with their closest cellmates."
How to Get Involved
Becoming a prison volunteer is easy to do, as long as you're over 18 years
of age. Most volunteer programs don't allow anyone under the age of 18 because,
says Hickey, "Younger people are usually less settled and can't come to visit
as often as older adults. Stability is important in a prison volunteer program."
However, Hickey points out that some programs will make exceptions if the
younger person is very mature, or if there is a large group that is interested
in volunteering.
For those who are interested in volunteering, getting involved is as easy
as contacting a prison ministry organization, contacting your chaplain or
contacting the human services director of a nearby prison.
Spitale suggests that you first go to an established organization and express
interest in volunteering. "They usually have established relationships in
the system and can get you involved quickly. If that doesn't work, then go
to the chaplain or human services director."
Training to become a prison volunteer is usually provided by the sponsoring
agency at no charge. Most of the training concerns how to behave inside the
prison. For example, volunteers should not ask an inmate what crime they committed.
This is considered judgmental.
There are no special physical requirements for prison volunteers. It is
an activity that anyone with the right mindset can take place in. "It helps
to be a good listener," says Hickey.
If you are interested in becoming a prison volunteer, here are some organizations
that can get you started:
Associations
Volunteers in Prevention, Probation and Prisons, Inc.
Internet
:
http://vipmentoring.org/
Prison Fellowship Ministries
Internet
:
https://www.prisonfellowship.org/action
Links
Prison Volunteers
Find out how it helps
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Review the various programs and services where volunteers can
help make a difference
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