By Kelley Kepler
Catholic Herald

St. Patrick parishioners reach out to prisoners

HUDSON --For a number of years, members of St. Patrick Parish in Hudson have been volunteering their time with inmates at the nearby St. Croix County Jail.

The jail, which is just walking distance of the church, caught the attention of St. Patrick's social concerns committee in 1995. One volunteer, Sr. Bernadette Kalscheur, a School Sister of St. Francis, said, "We heard that other churches were offering services to these inmates, and as a Catholic community we thought we should also try to help these people."

Kalscheur said St. Patrick volunteers began ministering to the prisoners once a week. The prison ministry program was so well received and many other religious groups wanted to get involved, so the parish later cut its hours in half.

Volunteers now go to the prison on second Mondays and fourth Wednesdays each month to teach Bible reflection classes. According to Kalscheur, the setting is informal and during class they usually reflect on Sunday readings or discuss other topics that inmates want to talk about. There are currently five prison ministry volunteers and three others have shown interest in helping with the program, she said.

Additional members of St. Patrick Parish reach out to the prisoners in other ways. Some tutor inmates and help them pass their GEDs. Through another program led by Kalscheur, parishioners buy Christmas gifts for the inmates' children, something Kalscheur said is "deeply appreciated" by inmates and their families.

The parish is one of about 20 groups that volunteer at the prison, said Mary Lischewski, the jail's volunteering program coordinator. In addition to the religious programs, Lischewski added that prisoners also have the option to sign up for classes in anger management, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, independent living, parenting and job seeking skills classes, to name a few.

The idea of walking into a prison was something that made Kalscheur nervous when she first began volunteering at the jail. "It was a little scary at first when the door slams behind you and you feel alone," she said. However, after working with the inmates for some time, she says she no longer feels uncomfortable.

There are extra safety issues for volunteers to keep in mind, Lischewski said. All volunteers are required to go through a two-hour orientation. In addition, 70 cameras are stationed throughout the building and classes are monitored. There are also a special button volunteers can press to get guards' attention in case of an emergency. Lischewski said the jail provides papers, pens and bibles, and jail workers go through all objects that volunteers bring in or donate. While acknowledging that the possibility for violent outbreaks does exist, Lischewski says volunteers at the prison have never faced such threats.

"If inmates cause trouble, they don't go to programs," Lischewski said. "It's a privilege for them to go." She added that there is a limit of 24 inmates per program. The inmates have to sign up for programs in advance, and Lischewski said, "Many times even the 7:00 a.m. classes are full."

She said many prisoners initially attend the volunteer programs as a way to get out of their cell blocks. However, she added, "the seed is planted while they are sitting in class. The seed may bloom in jail or it may be something in the back of their minds that they remember later on. Hopefully these classes give them some tools to use when they get out so we don't see them back here again."

Kalscheur said she believes the volunteer programs "give inmates time for reflection. They really start taking a good look at their lives, and they start thinking about how they can change their lifestyles."

In the last two years, Lischewski said she has seen a huge drop in the number of returning prisoners. She also shared part of a letter that one inmate wrote in praise of the volunteers.

He wrote: "When I first got here, my whole life seemed hopeless. I was going to lose everything I had -- my house, my job, everything. I was so depressed I just wanted to die. I prayed that I would. Then one day I signed up for one of the programs that the volunteers come in and teach. I was still very depressed, but as I continued to attend the programs it began to lift and I was learning so much from the people that came here. I can't say enough about the volunteers. They are phenomenal. I've made friends with a lot of them and some even come and visit me and are willing to help me when I get out.

"I'm in here because of a DWI. By the grace of God, I have lost any desire to drink. I also attend the AA program. This has been the worst time of my life, but also the most enlightening. Thanks to the volunteer program. I really don't know how I would have made it without their help."

Lischewski said she uses this letter to show volunteers the huge impact their help can make. But she also uses it as evidence that helping prisoners is not always as simple as one would like it to be. After hearing this prisoner's story, one would hope -- and maybe even expect -- him to be out of jail, working, leading a more normal life. After he was released, Lischewski said, he was very excited about being a changed man at first. However, he eventually returned to his old ways and ended up dying of a drug overdose.

The volunteer programs are important because they help plant that seed, as she put it. However, Lischewski stressed that as a next step, inmates need someone to "meet them at the door. Unless they have somebody helping them, they go back to the comfort zone of what they were doing before."

Lischewski is currently starting a program called Fresh Start to do just that. The healing process takes a long time, and she said trying to provide all the help that some of these people need is difficult.

Yet, people who volunteer at prisons should not be discouraged. A number of inmates have written thank you letters to St. Patrick Parish, especially letters thanking parishioners for sending Christmas gifts to their children. These letters illustrate that even the smallest acts of kindness can make worlds of good.

One inmate wrote, "I'm sending this letter to personally thank everyone responsible for the joy my children will get from the gifts from your church. I'm very grateful for the love you've shown to me by extending your love of God with my family. ... I believe that God is forgiving, that's why I was blessed with you guys this year to provide what I cannot."

Another wrote that because of the kindness shown by members of St. Patrick's, "I've begun to believe in goodness of man and woman and have been given a chance to see what it means first hand that 'giving is better than receiving.' Words cannot express the gratitude I feel in my heart. Please accept my thanks as it is all I have to offer, and please understand that your kindness has brought as much joy to my heart as the gifts will bring happiness on Christmas Day to my son."

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© Superior Catholic Herald, 2002