We focus upon individuals who have no infrastructure of family, home, employment or financial stability. They are desperately poor – and determined to improve their lives. We help them find jobs, food, housing, clothing, counseling and transportation – and rejoin our communities. Our prison ministry challenges Returning Citizens to actively participate in redefining their futures. To learn from th
e past, take action in the present and create a brighter future. We rebuild the character of these men while they are in prison and mentor them for one year after release to make sure they can adapt to freedom. By providing spiritual instruction and fellowship, practical and economic support and informed guidance, successful re-entry into the community can be sustained. We help people succeed at their second chance. Our success rate: 96% – 82 of 85 – of our Returning Citizens are working, tax-paying, contributing members in our community. Peter Claver Prison Ministry is a conference within the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Central Florida. Our mission is to provide spiritual and practical mentoring to men in five correctional facilities in Orange, Seminole and Polk counties. Directed by a volunteer Board of Directors, we are assisted by the prison chaplains and wardens who recommend prospective participants to its program. Our volunteer Mentors meet weekly with about 90 men in the two state prisons and another 108 men and women in the county jail system. Our program design foundation:
- An inclusive model of service fashioned upon existing national prison programs
- Networking to existing incarcerated and ex-offender service providers and
- Strict fidelity to Vincentian principles
Our prison ministry began in 2013 with four beds and 13 men in our 100-day program. In 2016, we have 12 beds and 40 men in the program. Our goal is to increase the number of Returning Citizens served by the program, helping more men take advantage of a second chance to succeed in life. We are sharing the program model; our vision is that the program will spread from the Orlando Diocese to SVDP conferences all over the country. Our continuum of care, informed and implemented by business professionals and those with backgrounds and life experiences similar to those of our clients, helps ensure success.
