It only takes 2-3 hours a month (depending on your commute). About the same length of time it takes to watch a baseball or football game.

If you are a good listener and dependable, you are qualified!

Yes. You will need to submit information for a background. Once cleared, you will be able to enter the facility with other volunteers to observe the program.

First listen and get to know them. Mostly they talk and you listen. M2 volunteers also ask questions, encourage education, work, family relationships, and pro-social behaviors. Most importantly, they give inmates hope for the future.

Your personal information is guarded carefully. DOC regulations do not allow you to give out your personal address, phone or email address.

DOC regulations state that volunteers cannot give money or purchase items for inmates. Sometimes they may ask, but the response should be “Volunteers are not allowed and I would jeopardize the program or my volunteer status.”

No. You will meet in a big room alongside other M2 volunteers. Usually sitting across a table talking, just like you would if you go out to coffee with a friend.

All inmates in the M2 program fill out an application to the program and are put on a waiting list until a volunteer is available. Many wait a year or more and they look forward to their M2 visits. Many never received a visit from family or friends during their incarceration. You may be the only person that comes from the outside just to see them. The M2 participants are generally more motivated and well-behaved because they are taking steps to make changes and better themselves.

Yes, you may write to your match using the address of the M2 PO Box. Your match can send a letter directly to that PO Box, and an M2 volunteer will forward the letter to your home address. There is also an email system available through DOC that does not reveal your personal email address. Some inmates are very prolific writer, and some not at all, and some do not have money to purchase stamps.

No. It is against DOC policy. This is a mentor relationship with you and your match only.

• Yes – A study conducted in cooperation with the Dept. of Corrections Records Division shows that the M2 program reduces the recidivism rate (reoffending) by more than 50%.
• Your courage and commitment to visit represents a tangible demonstration that someone really cares. For all too many, you may be the first and only person that visits them. It is often the first time they have had a role model who represents the principles dependable people live by and inspires responsible behavior.
• We consistently see changes and growth in the individuals we visit.
• Most volunteers see big and small transformations in many areas in these inmates lives after time and trust has been built. Staff members inside the institution have made comments about the changes they have seen.

Jesus encourages us to in Matthew 18:12.. your father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

Jesus cares about everyone! Men and women in prison are sons, daughters, mothers an fathers who need a Christian influence in their life.

Studies have shown that inmates who have contact with someone from the outside world are less institutionalized when they are released, giving them a greater chance of successful re-entry to society.

To provide consistent and stable support to encourage pro-social attitudes and behavior to help the incarcerated individual take steps towards successful reentry. Regular monthly visits motivate the incarcerated individual because they know someone cares and sees their positive steps towards growth. Having regular visits encourage inmates to resist behavior that will disappoint their mentor.

Regular visits combat loneliness and isolation and contribute to a sense of self-worth and acceptance. And realize they can be a productive member of society. Having regular contact with a healthy role model from the outside contributes to an offender being less institutionalized upon re-entry, increasing their chance of successful integration into the community.

You will arrive at the designated prison with others in the M2 group. There may be a carpool available. When you arrive at the prison, you will sign in at the front desk by giving the officer your ID and locking up all your personal belongings in a locker provided at the prison. Personal items, including a cell phone, are not allowed. You may bring in a sealed bottle of water and a Bible if you like.

You will proceed through the metal detectors, just like at the airport. Once you have cleared the metal detectors and receive your volunteer ID badge, you will walk together with the other volunteers to your meeting area. You will walk through locked gates and razor wire fences.

Once you arrive at your meeting area, your match should be there, or be there shortly. Every so often, your match may not be there because they are sick or have a conflict. There will be other volunteers in the same room meeting with their match. Conversation happens naturally and centers around your match’s current situation inside the prison, their work or school, their spiritual life, or their families. Some matches do bible studies together and pray, others do not. Volunteers should taking their queue from their match and their interests and needs. At the end of the visit, many will pray together before we part. Then we journey again to the outside leaving our match behind, keeping them in prayer until our visit the next month.

It is important to be as consistent as possible. We ask you try to not be absence no more than three times in 12-month period. If you miss a month, it will be two months before you see your match again and any growth and trust that may have been built may stall. Many incarcerated individuals have not had trustworthy or responsible people in their lives. You represent Jesus to them.

Realizing that conflicts and sickness can be unavoidable, if you know you will be absent for the next month’s visit, just inform your match at your visit in order to avoid discouragement. If you find out a week or two ahead of time, please write to your match. Last minute conflicts will happen, and your leader will advise them at the visit. Your match may or may not be able to go back to their unit, so they could sit there alone or sit with another volunteer and their match, depending on their preference.