May 8, 2000
Ex-inmates experience hard life past 'gate'
___By Dan Martin
___Texas Baptist Communications
___HOUSTON--Every weekday, about 150 men are released from Texas prisons.
___They have served their time and are let go, or they are released on parole and turned out the prison gate. They are been processed inHuntsville and are given $50 and a bus ticket.
FOUR LEADERS of aftercare programs for released prisoners, Joe Fauss of Lindale, Karen Gill of Hungerford, Sam Pollinzi of Dallas and Louis Nobs of Willis, describe their work during the Restorative Justice Ministry Convention in Houston.
___"If they don't have their own clothing, and most of them don't, they also get something to wear, mostly castoff from the Salvation Army or Goodwill," explained Jim Young, restorative justice ministry coordinator with the Baptist General Convention of Texas' church ministries department.
___The men are told they must leave Huntsville by nightfall or they will be arrested and returned to jail.
___Many of them use the bus tickets to go to the urban areas--Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Young said.
___"When they get out of prison, they usually go to the bus stations, and the prostitutes are there, the pimps are there, the pushers are there. But the church is not there," said Sam Pollinzi, an ex-convict who operates a program in Dallas to help ex-convicts reintegrate into society.
___The problems of aftercare--helping ex-convicts return to society and keep from returning to prison--was a key topic at the seventh annual Restorative Justice Ministry Convention in Houston April 28-29.
___Young and several panel members discussed how churches and Christians can minister to the ex-offenders once they are released.
___Many come out of prison with only $50 and the clothing on their backs. They have no place to go and have few skills needed to cope with their new freedom.
___Pollinzi, now director of Exodus House in Dallas, illustrated the problem by describing how he was picked up outside the prison by a family member and was taken by car to Dallas.
___"On the way, we stopped at a restaurant for something to eat," he recalled. "I didn't know how to order from the waitress. There were so many choices. I had not had any choices for a long time. We didn't get choices about what we eat in prison."
___Many church members are willing to volunteer to go into the prisons to minister to the inmates, but very few are willing to minister to them once they get out.
___"There is a lot of fear among church members, and for people to be willing to minister to the releasees, they have to overcome a lot of fear," said Roger Hollar, administrator of Glenview Baptist Church in Fort Worth and pastor of MercyHeart Baptist Mission, an outreach of the church aimed at ex-offenders and their families.
___The mission was founded to provide a place for the offenders who have become Christians in prison to worship and serve, Hollar said. Many of the former inmates do go to church with the other members, but many of them participate only in the smaller fellowship made up of people with similar experiences.
___Ministering to ex-offenders can be hard, he added, admitting to being emotionally "hurt" by people he was attempting to help. Some ripped him off; others failed in various ways.
___"It takes a lot of prayer and a lot patience to be a part of their lives," he stressed. "If someone is going to do it, they must be called. This is not an experiment."
___Bill Hutto, a part-time chaplain at the Bell County Jail in Belton and bivocational pastor of Faith, Hope and Love Mission, said the church was formed to minister to ex-prisoners and the families of prisoners and former prisoners.
___"This ministry is not for everybody. A lot of folks are scared of the ex-offenders. But I believe that God will call those he has prepared to do this work," he said.
___In addition to the churches that become community for ex-offenders, another model that was discussed is based on a halfway house model, where ex-inmates are helped to learn living skills while they are mentored and discipled to strengthen their Christian faith.
___Louis Nobs, director of Wholeway House in Willis, said the six- to nine-month program aims at helping the ex-offender do many of the things other people take for granted, such as getting a driver's license, opening a bank account, getting a job and learning to pay bills.
___"A lot of them have absolutely no idea where to go, what to do. We help them," he said.
___
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