Maryland; Washington, DC; Northern VA
Correctional Facilities Team Report

In September, three members of the Correctional Facilities Team of our Inter-group completed training to become One-on-One mentors in the County Detention center. Our Team has made two unsuccessful efforts to enter other county jails here in our area. Now, we have been given the opportunity to Twelfth Step some of the prisoners.

In this case, Higher Power worked through our Pass the Message Committee chairperson who secured a meeting with the jail’s contact person in early September. At that meeting, it was clear that the staff saw how much our program was needed in their jail. Unsure of the conservative nature of the jail’s administration, they looked for alternative ways to bring SA inside. It was decided to run SA members through the jail’s volunteer training program. With our members prepared to be One-on-One mentors, the counselors in the jail would then funnel prisoners who expressed a desire for help with their lust issues to our people. Our members will be, in effect, running micro meetings with one to three prisoners at a time.

Our contact works for Offender Aid and Restoration of Arlington County, Inc. (OAR) which runs programs in three local jails. With this first step inside we will soon have the opportunity to enter the other jails served by OAR.

Thanks for asking us to report our success in the ESSAY. Keep praying.