What Corrections Professionals Are Saying about Houses of Healing

What Corrections Professionals are Saying about Houses of Healing

Houses of Healing is the first program the administration has accepted in 18 years. There are always more than 40 inmates on the waiting list. We have now worked with over 300 inmates and I have also given out many copies of the book as I round the cell houses. We are a maximum security prison and often on lockdown. Houses of Healing is invaluable reading for those periods… Thanks again for your incredible book and insight into the lives of those behind the wall.
Lori Wilbert, Chaplaincy and Clinical Services. Stateville Correctional Center, Illinois

I have taught this course at least 30 times now to over 400 inmates and each time I am again blessed to witness the miracle of deep transformation as inmates engage with the material and with themselves.
The Rev. Dr. Joyce Penfield, Chaplain, Adult Correctional Institution, Cranston, RI

I am confident every time I begin a new class with Houses of Healing that students at the jail will like it and will want to grow and change because of it. It is a joy to facilitate this class! I have taught over 50 classes over the last six years. We are only allowed to gather 20 students at a time in our jail, and I always end up with a waiting list.
Peggy Keane, MPS, Teacher and Chaplain. Du Page County Jail, Illinois

HOH is an extremely “high demand” program. Its reputation has grown to the point that the Canadian National Parole Board (Canada) highly regards it and the impact on offenders being reviewed for release. Also, it has just received National Status and has been assigned a number on the Offender Management System. This means that Parole Officers (nationally) will see Houses of Healing listed among core programs the Government recognizes and will want their clients to take the program. Congratulations.
Butler, Chaplain. Grand Valley Institution for Women, Ontario, Canada

I heard an inmate give you the highest accolade. He said, You can tell who has taken her class and who hasn’t by the way they act.’ . . It is important for you to know how many lives you are touching and will continue to touch through your work. These guys are thirsting for what you have to offer.
Sara Dubik-Unruh, M.S.,Counselor Billerica House of Corrections, Billerica, MA

“It’s only been a few days since we received Houses of Healing and the response from inmates has been tremendous. I hear inmates talking about its truthful, inspiring approach to dealing with incarceration and its effects on the human spirit.”
Chaplains Mark Brown and Wes Sanchez.  Okeechobee C.I.,  Okeechobee, FL

Houses of Healing is now and will continue to be an essential component of our A.S.A.T (Alcohol & Substance Abuse Treatment) curriculum.  The material has been exceptionally well received.  Obviously it is no small feat to actively engage this generally resistant population.  Houses of Healing not only captures their attention, it inspires the desire to challenge themselves.  A rare and refreshing phenomenon. 
Diane Arnesen, Counselor, Mt. Lyons C.F., NY


Prison Volunteers

At the first night of a new Houses of Healing class, Joe, a student in the group, came up to me and told me that he was taking the class because he saw what Houses of Healing had done for a friend. He said that one day, after being released from prison (between his last time in and this time), he was walking through his old neighborhood and saw an old friend who he used to “do drugs” with. This friend named Ron was sitting in his pickup truck, eating lunch and reading “House of Healing”. Ron had taken the Houses of Healing course in prison, been out for about 18 months, and was doing great. He had a job doing construction work, a new wife, a stable home, and every day at lunch he would sit in his pick up truck and read the book. He told Joe that it was his way of staying centered and keeping a commitment to his recovery.
Carol Peters Prison Volunteer, MA

I have been volunteering in the prison system for more than 15 years, both at state and county facilities in New York and Florida. During that time I have been a member of the Judicial Process Commission which oversees a mentoring process for ex-inmates as well as the Rochester Interfaith Jail Ministry which not only provides programs but a presence to those incarcerated. I have researched and read much about what is offered in the prison system. Tonight I want to share with you how grateful I am to have finally found a program, Houses of Healing, that helps me and the incarcerated meet the goals I had hoped for. Thank you and God bless you in the wonderful and generous work you are doing.
Angela, Prison Volunteer

Back to Houses of Healing

 

"It's hard to express all the shifts in the men I've worked with. There have been MANY. One example is a man who talked about how his relationship with his wife had improved since taking Houses of Healing. He said he was always controlling with her, but now he realized he did it out of fear. He had been able to talk to his wife about why he got controlling with her, and now when he starts getting controlling she can talk to him about what he is feeling. He said his marriage has never been stronger."

"Sometimes inmates will stop me on the yard and share how they are still working with the materials long after they completed the class."