Renewal and Reflection

We're excited for all there is in store for 2009 - this month we bring you a special profile about our family liaisons - two indispensables on the PEP team. We want to give you an inside look at how their care and compassion brings our mission to life. We hope you'll be inspired to reach out and get involved as you plan the year ahead!

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Making the Connection:
The PEP Family Program

(PEP participants and families gather during a graduation ceremony.)

Of all the life-changing aspects of the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, the Family Program is the one piece that makes the biggest impact on free-world loved ones. Not seeing a member of the family for years due to incarceration can mean loved ones live off old memories of what the participant used to be like, used to say, and used to do.

PEP’s two part-time Family Liaisons, Theresa Black and Laura Stiehl, have the blessed task of opening up lines of communication and helping families reunite. In addition, they work tirelessly to change the focus from a negative past full of pain to a positive, hope-filled, and life-affirming future.

The Family Program began when Catherine Rohr asked Theresa to make some phone calls and invite family and friends to Class III’s graduation. After attending her first graduation later that year, Theresa realized that the loved ones who came did not know anything about PEP.

"We needed to get family and friends ‘up to speed’ on what PEP is all about. Once they understood, then we could help them partner with their loved one again – or maybe for the first time," Theresa explained. "We went from placing a few calls to families and friends, hoping that they would not be too angry, to informing and encouraging families and friends with newsletters, pictures, journal entries, conference calls, and personal calls."
Read the Full Article Here
Interested in getting involved? Get more info here.

Don't Forget to GoodSearch!

What if PEP earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our efforts?

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Just go to www.GoodSearch.com and enter Prison Entrepreneurship Program as the charity you want to support. Thanks for spreading the word!