~ Diane King ~

Retired teacher offers solace to dying inmates

By Paul Dalby ~

The Star Newspaper

Diane King says she will never forget the day she saw her first palliative-care ex-inmate patient in July 2007.

"He was dressed in the orange jumpsuit of a prisoner, and his legs and hands were shackled. Physically, he looked 10 years older than someone living outside prison."

That inmate was 46-year-old Mike Walsh, jailed for 10 years in the Bath federal institution near Kingston. He had been handed a second, much harsher sentence when doctors diagnosed him with terminal lung and throat cancer, and gave him seven months to live.

Read more -

Ex-Offender's read on the

New Beginnings House

By Bob....

New Beginnings is just what it says, a new beginning. Coming out of prison and learning how to adjust to normal living conditions is a challenge for anyone. Coming to a new community brings even more challenges and added pressure. With very little money, and nowhere to go, I came to realize that I would probably have to live in a crack house or some run down rooming house. I couldn’t handle that and my first thought was, I wanted to stay in prison, I felt comfortable there. I’m not ashamed to admit, I was scared, and totally lost. Enter Peterborough Community Chaplaincy and new beginnings. I met with Dan Haley (PCC) while in prison. Our conversation lasted nearly an hour and by the time it was over I knew where I was going. Dan offered me a place to stay and he was going to set up a support group for me. For those of you who do not know what a support group is, it is a group of people from the community who are willing to accept you into their lives, work with you and give you all the support you need. One major step that I have learned deals with, accountability. I’m accountable to myself, my support group and the community I live in. Our main objective at New Beginnings is “NO MORE VICTIMS”

When I arrived in Peterborough I was surprised to see how welcomed I was received. The people at the house made me feel comfortable and relaxed. The house was huge, neat and clean. I felt relieved knowing that I made the right choice. My support group was in place within a month and the relationship I have with them now is unbelievable. Some take me out to golf and sporting advents. There are others who have brought me into their homes and made me feel like a part of their family, I wasn’t alone any more. Where would I be if it wasn’t for this organization, in prison, on the street and alone! Just that thought alone scares the pants off me. It has been 2 years since my arrival here at PCC New Beginnings and life has treated me good. I now feel like a normal human being again. Most important to me is to know that I have support, not only from my support group but from the police department and my parole officer   as well. . It’s with this kind of intervention from Circles of Support and Accountability  that makes the transition from prison life to community living an easy one. There are no more fears, or worried whether or not I would be accepted. New Beginnings is needed not only here but in all cities. With support from our communities and Gods help, New Beginnings can become a reality for every city within our country. The need is there are you.

NOTE:

You can now support Peterborough Community Chaplaincy through Payroll Deductions or personal contributions to Peterborough United Way - designating  to "Peterborough Community Chaplaincy"

Above and Beyond

Peterborough Community Chaplaincy is

featured on CHEX TV!

The Extra Mile
with John Blake
Presented during the Wednesday edition

of Newswatch @ 6.

These segments focus on people in our

community who go "The Extra Mile".
They're people who freely give of their time to

help others, but ask for nothing in return.

John Blake has put together two features on

our Transition House.  You can view them

online by clicking on....

"Transition House Part 1"

and

"Transition House Part 2"

CHEX - Extra Mile

Support Our Peterborough

Community Chaplain

Become a Financial Supporter of PCC -

PCC

will be able to take great steps forward with

your help.  There are 3 Ways to help the ministry financially...

1.) Through "Canada Helps" click here  to

make a charitable donation to support PCC

2.) Through the Mail - Please make your cheques

out to "Peterborough Community Chaplaincy"

and forward it to Peterborough Community Chaplaincy, 

Main office  P.O. Box 235 Peterborough, Ontario, 

K9J 6Y8. 

3.) Through "Direct Deposits" from your own account

to ours - for more info contact Dan at 705-741-4172 or ptbochaplaincy@nexicom.net

All gifts can be receipted through Peterborough Community Chaplaincy which is a fully accredited and registered charity.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meet Our

Peterborough Community Chaplain

As a Grantee from the

Trillium Foundation

we proudly display

the Trillium Foundation Logo ~

Thank You

All across Ontario each week hundreds of people enter prison willingly.  They walk through doors of prisons without blinking an eye.  In fact, you might say they are very excited about going to jail.

Add to that there are hundreds more that sit in coffee shops or their own homes with convicted men and women of all sorts - sharing their lives and families with these folks.

They are not afraid of the bank robbers, violent criminals, pedophiles or any ex-offender.  They have welcomed the ex-offenders into their lives.

Who are these strange people that associate with these undesirables?  They are an army of volunteers that have caught a vision to help build and maintain a safe community.  They are committed to "no more victims" in any community.  They are doing their part to help men and women make better choices.

As one volunteer stated, "I really didn't think that my life could make such a difference.  By simply meeting with John each week he has changed.  You can see the difference now."  As he spoke his voice broke.

Who is John?  You see John was repulsed by everyone for a long time.  John's life had been filled with violence and rejection from an early age... and in turn he had committed crimes that had broken his family and life in a million pieces.  John is a pedophile - that society hates.

Another volunteer doesn't say much about his journey at the side of a dieing ex-offender.  It is hard to speak about the complicated story that involved one man being released from prison on a compassionate parole.  Then as the weeks went by the volunteer and the ex-offender would form a close bond with each other.  The ex-offender didn't die alone... his friend was with him.  During that time the volunteer witnessed the joy and tears as the ex-offenders family came back into his life.  The volunteer witnessed the greatest miracle of all - forgiveness.

These volunteers are quiet heroes.  Together we celebrate these heroes in our communities - and say a BIG THANK YOU for the excellent work that you have done.  Though they can't always speak about what has happened - their actions speak for them.

(Full Story)

Support Our Peterborough

Community Chaplain

Become a Financial Supporter of PCC - PCC

will be able to take great steps forward with

your help.  There are 3 Ways to help the ministry financially...

1.) Through "Canada Helps" click here  to

make a charitable donation to support PCC

2.) Through the Mail - Please make your cheques

out to "Peterborough Community Chaplaincy"

and forward it to Peterborough Community Chaplaincy, 

Main office  P.O. Box 235 Peterborough, Ontario, 

K9J 6Y8. 

3.) Through "Direct Deposits" from your own account

to ours - for more info contact Dan at 705-741-4172 or ptbochaplaincy@nexicom.net

All gifts can be receipted through Peterborough Community Chaplaincy which is a fully accredited and registered charity.

Peterborough Community Chaplaincy is

an active ministry in Peterborough, Ontario,

Canada, that provides a supportive environment

and practical daily assistance to people making the transition from prison to community with a

primary focus on community safety

and the belief that everyone is of equal value

and worth.  

Community Chaplaincy

To understand this role better let's walk through the

release of a man from prison. Where does it

all start?

The Community Chaplain is contacted by the

Chaplain or Parole Officer from one of the

Federal Institutions asking if he can meet

with a man that will bere-leased to his area

in the next period of time. Sometimes the

release date will be months away, other

times it is a short time with perhaps less than

weeks to go before he walks out. The Chaplain

then travels to the Institution for the initial

meeting and assessment.

(Full Story)

To understand the scope of Community Chaplaincy, let's follow the steps of a Chaplain from the very first contact with the Offender in the Correctional Institute to the reintegration in the community.

 1. Contact - A call is made to inform the Community Chaplain that a man is going to arrive in the community on a certain date. Contact with the Chaplain may come from a Correctional Service Canada Chaplain within the Institute or from other CSC staff members. This contact ideally happens about six months in advance - however may vary down to a few weeks.

2. Meeting - The community Chaplain travels to the prison to meet with the Offender. This step is important as the initial assessment gives the Chaplain some idea of the team that will need to be assembled to meet the man as he comes to the community in six months time. More meetings will take place over the next months with regular communication with the community chaplain.

3. Assessment Stage - Each offender has different needs. Some have a lower risk to re- offend; others are at a much higher risk. Each ex-offender, as he is released, comes with a considerable amount of documentation that has been assembled by the CSC staff that has worked with him over the time of his incarceration. This documentation paints a fairly clear portrait of the individual. A lower risk ex-offender will need somewhat less help than the higher risk individual.  But most important - each man needs help. Careful consideration is given to the overall safety and concern of the community where he will live as well as the needs of each man.

4. Volunteer Team - Based upon the assessment a team of volunteers are brought together over the next six months. One of two streams is possible with variations possible within each. Each stream includes close contact with community volunteers.

5. Stream One - When working with the "high risk" ex-offender a valuable tool entitled, "Circles of Support".  This is a life time community support group that works to surround the an ex-offender with support and accountability - just as its name suggests. Each day of the week is covered with contact being made by the COSA member with the ex- offender, the Core Member, to offer support and to help monitor his welfare and community contact. This may be through a telephone call or a personal meeting. The COSA group meets weekly with the Pedophile. A COSA team leader stays in contact with his team members and the Core Member. The team leader is also in regular contact with the local police officers who are also part of the ongoing monitoring of the individual.

6. Stream Two - When working with the ex-offender in the lower risk category the intensity of the contact is less. But regular and available contact is just as important. After lengthy periods of incarceration - more than 10 years - this is particularly true. Society for the ex-offender has changed radically. His understanding of the new world around him may well be as traumatic as moving to a different country. While this individual may not need the daily contact that the higher risk ex-offender needs it is still very important in helping to find a job, find housing, transportation and understanding without condemnation.

7. Release Day - The ex-offender is met at the prison by the Community Chaplain. The relation they have built over the last six months is important at this time. The trust they have for each other will be the strength in their new journey together. If he has been released under parole supervision the first stop in the community is the Parole Office for the initial introductions to the supervising personnel. If he is an ex-offender that is known as "high risk" the next stop will be the Police Station where he will meet the supervising team of police officers. He will be registered under the new  "Christopher's Law Registry" of sex offenders. This is an Ontario wide registry of all "high risk" ex-offender that is kept to help track the ex-offender and give further assurance to the community that everything possible is being done to assure a high safety factor. Following the meeting at the police station the next stop will be to meet with the new landlord and see the new accommodations that he will live in. The chaplain has already done considerable work searching for appropriate places for the man to live. This will be based on the income or pension that is available to the ex-offender. This area is perhaps one of the toughest needs to solve for each ex-offender. There is little of no savings plan for an offender in prison. The $5.50 per day that he perhaps has made in the prison job he worked at was spent internally to meet his personal needs. If he is released under stat release, and a high risk ex-offender, the Parole Office is not necessary but rather they head directly to the police station. Very likely the arrival of the high risk, ex-offender to the community will be announced by the police with the help of the local newspaper. Depending on the risk factor, on the sensationalism possible by, his history and the community awareness; his story could run for three days or more while the press plays it out in its coverage. During this stage the contacts with the COSA is vital. The fear the man feels at this moment is more than can be described. He has served a considerable time in prison and he now realizes that he will likely never be free. To say these are dark moments is putting it lightly. The potential to flee and find another hiding place is high. However hiding and entering a secretive hidden life style is possibly the worst thing that could happen to the "high risk" ex-offender. This was the life style that Community Chaplaincy originally provided for his first offence to take place. "Community Rage" heightened by the press and local vigilante spirit is the Community Chaplain's greatest concern. With a steady reassurance and the help of their growing friendship, the ex-offender and the Community Chaplain face these days together. If there are medical needs a doctor's appointment or clinic appointment will be necessary. This may also include a visit to a dentist or other special services that were not provided within the prison system but are now necessary to assure a success to his re-entry.

8. Days and Months following - Often the first day, first weeks and the first encounter with our outside society is overwhelming for the ex-offender. The steps walked with the Community Chaplain or his volunteers are important to the bonding with the ex-offenders new friends. Coffee that was once Ten Cents a cup is now $1.50. The theatre that once cost 25 Cents is now over $8.50. Gas that was once 27 Cents a gallon is now over $3.00 a gallon. Litres, kilometers and kilograms make no sense at all. Rent for an apartment that should only cost $125 per month at the most has sky rocketed to well over $800. A single room, in a low rent area, with unlovely neighbors rents for more than $500 per month. These are the realities of a man returning home to our society. Getting a job or registering at an employment centre relies heavily on the use of a computer. After having been removed from society for more than 30 years this aspect of his new life is overwhelming. The typical telephone approach to a supporting agency that requires you to listen closely remember a lot and press either 1 - 2 - 3 or 4 can be intimidating for the ordinary community member. For the ex-offender this is another frightening step to conquer.

9. Support and Stability - The community volunteers along with the Community Chaplain are keys to success and the building of a safe community. From places to work, housing that affordable, furniture that is available and people that care; there is a wide range of opportunity to get involved. The goal for all Community Chaplains and his or her volunteers is see the ex-offender, now our neighbor, live a supported and stable life style never to return to prison again.

To contact us danhaley@nexicom.net

Dan Haley

Peterborough Community Chaplaincy

Main office  P.O. Box 235

Peterborough ON

K9J 6Y8

705-741-4172 (Office)

705-741-4833 (Fax)

Office E-mail ptbochaplaincy@nexicom.net  

Dan's personal e-mail danhaley@nexicom.net

Web site www.ptbochaplaincy.org

New Beginnings (transition house)

953 Clonsilla Ave

K9J 5Y2