While each of the nearly 2 million incarcerated people in the U.S. has their own story, they all share one experience: losing access to their neighbors on the outside.
The majority will be released after their sentences are served, but an atrophied social life and the stigma of incarceration mean they face a long uphill battle to take care of themselves, much less fully rejoin society. Christians have long stepped into this gap, many seeking to live out Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25 and visit those in prison. In the era of mass incarceration, religious volunteers visit incarcerated people to bridge the gap between them and life outside.
In March, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a nonprofit devoted to fighting unjust prison policies, launched its “Visit a Prison” campaign, urging lawmakers and faith groups to visit their local prisons, including a guide for people interested in getting involved with incarceration ministry.
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