April 8, 2011: Symposium on Faith Communities and Incarceration

THE SYMPOSIUM

This high-level, day-long symposium is for congregations and other organizations, and individuals, who already are—or want to be— active in prison ministry or in welcoming prisoners back home. It will feature a holistic approach to initiatives addressing incarceration and its aftermath and will show a way for organizations to take their individual and collective ministries to the next level.

The program of the day will include a nation- ally prominent keynote speaker distinguished for her influence on incarceration and reentry policy, continental breakfast, lunch, a plenary on Healing Communities, workshops with learning you can act on, and an opportunity to sign on as one of a consor- tium of trained Healing Communities.
We expect that the principal leaders of the most important faith-based and community organizations active in downstate New York reentry initiatives will be in attendance.

The Symposium honors the Reverend Dr. Lonnie McLeod, Jr., an alumnus of New York Theological Seminary’s M.P.S. program in Sing Sing Correctional Facility, whose ministry and work in prison, with citizens returning from prison and with his own congregations exemplified the holistic vision of the Healing Communities and set a national standard for
effectiveness and excellence.

WORKSHOPS

Participants will be offered a menu of workshops led by some of the most effective activists and professionals in the field of prisoner reentry, from nonprofits, faith-based and neighborhood organizations and government. Some of the topics in the planning stage are:

• Juvenile Justice
• Mobilizing Congregations Using the Healing Communities Action Plan
• Working with the Criminal Justice System
• Trauma and Reentry
• The Way Back Home: Service Delivery to Returning Citizens
• Families and Reintegration
• Modes of Effective Advocacy

SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS

• JACQUELINE D. MCLEOD, M.P.H. is a New Jersey activist and the widow of Dr. Lonnie McLeod, Jr.
• HEALING COMMUNITIES PRISON MINISTRY AND REENTRY PROJECT is a Philadelphia nonprofit funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. It is a national leader in training congregations and other existing community organizations to provide the institutional in- frastructure for delivery of the entire array of reentry services. It trains congregations to create a place, a holistic community framework, in which a human welcome and sophisticated social-service guidance for re- turning prisoners can be situated and sustained.

For additional information, or to attend the Symposium, contact:
Ron William Walden
Executive Director
Fund for Community Leadership Initiatives at New York Theological Seminary
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 554 New York, NY 10115-0076
212-870-1297
fcli@nyts.edu
www.nyts.edu/projectnyts