MEEELJ
Effecting change and opportunity
for youth, inmates and disadvantaged persons.
Minorities for Equality in Education, Employment, Liberty and Justice.

Home
Programs
Upcoming
Events
Background
Sponsors
Helpful
Links
Executive
Director
Board of
Directors

 

events
MEEELJ Events  

Community Events

2nd Annual NATIONAL
Prisoner's Family Conference
Orlando, FL
February 25 & 26, 2010
Fo
r complete details and registration form, please visit: www.solutionsforelpaso.org

See flyer below

 


Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry
Free Food For Families
Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, Breads & Desserts
Third Friday, Monthly 9:00 - 10:00 AM
Open to the Public - First Come, First Served
1201 Pine Street  Bastrop, TX 78602  (512) 303-0033

Donations to fill our shelves and thence our hungry are always welcome and highly appreciated.

February Empty Bowl Project to support the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry. $15 for a bowl.
Call for more information: 303-0033 or go to www.bastropfoodpantry.com.

You might be interested in...

2nd Annual NATIONAL
Prisoner's Family Conference

February 25 and 26, 2010
Orlando , Florida
Crowne Plaza Hotel - Orlando Airport

A Glimpse of
Presenters and Special Features

For complete details and registration form, please visit: www.solutionsforelpaso.org

Grace Bauer, Field Organizer, Campaign for Youth Justice, Louisiana & Tracy McClard, Advocate, Missouri

Organizing Ourselves for Change: Two mothers of juveniles, one committing suicide while incarcerated, relate the building of a powerful advocacy organization that changed history by effecting changes in the system.

Jane Browning, Executive Director & Awet Sellers, Office Mgr. & Family Member, International Community Corrections Assoc., Washington, D.C.

Coming Home:  Re-entry Reunification Programs:An accounting of exemplary effective re-entry programs that emphasize family reunification in the re-entry process.

Marylou Carrillo, Investigative Specialist with DEA-El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) (El Paso Police Tactical Gang & Special Operations Sergeant Retired) and  Yvonne Sandoval, Texas

The Impact of Gangs in Our Communities & On The Prisoner's Family: This session identifies those with ties to gangs and drug trafficking organizations for prevention purposes, as well as safety issues.

Jo Chapman, Coordinator for Kairos Women's Ministries, California

Kairos:  The Gift that Keeps on Giving: Learn of the extensive work that Kairos does for Prisoner's Families .

Elizabeth Coldren, Field Director, Prison Fellowship, Florida and Arleen B. Anderson, Director, Angel Tree Year Round Ministry, Prison Fellowship, Virginia

Family Embraced:  Ministering to Children and Families of the Incarcerated:  This workshop looks atskills for an effective ministry to prison families, and strategies for outreach and support.

Libbie Combee, Executive Director & Jason Leland, Leland Family Ministries , Florida

Addiction Destroys:  The High is a Lie:  Powerful personal testimony on overcoming the perils of methamphetamine use/abuse.

Celeste Didlick-Davis, Doctoral Candidate Miami U. , Ohio

Helping Formerly Incarcerated Females Come Back Home to Stay: An exploration of the unique barriers faced by female offenders .

Eva Eberhardt, LPC, CAC III, NCC, ABC Counseling Center , Colorado

Addiction in the Prison-Family: An interactive workshop on the critical role of the family in the successful addiction recovery process of the returning prisoner.

Ann Edenfield-Sweet, Founder and Director of Wings and Wings for Life, New Mexico

Wings for L.I.F.E.: The process of effectively bringing family members, returning citizens, probationers and volunteers together to resolve the affect of incarceration on the entire family.

Carolyn Esparza, LPC, Founder and Director of Community SOLUTIONS of El Paso, Texas and Sherry Carrol, Correctional Program Specialist, National Institute of Corrections, Washington DC

Voices from the Inside:  This panel presentation offers an opportunity to hear from those working and living inside the prison setting, and includes a poignant yet practical presentation on maintaining family relationships throughout incarceration from the inmate's perspective.

Carol Fennelly, Executive Director, Hope House & William Muth, PhD, Asst. Prof. Virginia Commonwealth University & former Administrator of Education for the Federal Bureau of Prisons of Washington, DC

Strengthening Families by Supporting Fathers Behind Bars: This workshop highlights the role fathers behind bars can play in the lives of their children and families while incarcerated. 

Dr. Ann Gifford, Parents and Partners of Prisoners, Texas

Introducing a Re-entry Covenant: A written agreement that helps reconcile relationships, restore families, and reduce recidivism

Barbara Joy Hansen, Nationally recognized speaker and Author of Listen to the Cry of the Child, Massachusetts

Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse: Setting Captives Free: This victim's perspective of healing from 38 years of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, leading to facilitating support for victims of sexual abuse and ministry to sex offenders.

Dominic P. Herbst, MS; MA, Bethesda Family Services Foundation, Author of "Restoring Relationships," Pennsylvania

Restoring Relationships:  A Journey of Forgiveness and Healing This model for healing relationships in the prison family is based on the premise that "Pain concealed is pain unhealed."

Roger Hollar, Pastor and Executive Director of Mercy Heart, Texas

Mercy Heart The role of the local church in restoring families of inmates and tools for helping the families left behind when a loved one goes to prison.

Connie King , MA , Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Florida

Left Behind:  Children of Prisoners: This interactive workshop identifies how effective tools and community collaboration help children of prisoners convert a negative circumstance into a positive experience.

Martin La Barbera, Criminologist/Principle criminal justice consultant-Corrections Research Institute, Texas

The Messages Project: Parenting from Prison This 2008 CNN Heroes of the Year awardee program introduces a long-term in-prison tool for healthy bonds between incarcerated parents and their children.

Venessa Mendenhall, Consultant, Dare Mighty Things/Caregivers Choice, Virginia and Michelle Mongelluzzo & Melissa Casto, Staff, Kinship Care, Florida

Statistics & Effective Strategies to Support Children Impacted by Parental Incarceration: An examination of the impact of parental incarceration on children, and two effective strategies to support and protect youth.

Anita Perry, Family &  Community Support Services, LLC, Virginia

Helping Families Succeed:  The Role of Intensive In-Home Services Effective strategies and concrete methods for stabilizing families disrupted by the trauma of a loved one's incarceration .

Susan Sinclair, PhD, university assistant professor, Upper Midwest

Living with the Label A powerful personal look at the struggle toward recovery and healing from the unique trauma and relentless stigma experienced by families of sex offenders.

Debbie Walsh, Director of Prison Ministry-Missouri, Child Evangelism Fellowship, North Carolina

The Impact of Parental Incarceration on Children : Effective strategies for helping children defy the odds of being incarcerated later in life, when cultural subsets often lead to incarceration becoming a rite of passage .

Henry Wells, Program Manager, New Creations Community Outreach, Michigan

CHAMPS:  Breaking the Cycle of Generational Incarceration Keys to define, track and explain anticipated behavioral patterns and create effective intervention goals for children with incarcerated parents.

Panel:  Blaine Whitt, President, with Mary Morgan, David Clark, Calvin Brown, Jacalyn Brown and Ken Frier of Xtreme Soulutions ,  Florida

Xtreme Soulutions T his prisoner's and family's perspective offers proven ways to effectively transform the prisoner's mentality beginning during incarceration to successfully reintegrate into the community and family.

FEATURES & SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

Walter McNeil, Secretary, Florida Department of Corrections:   Having served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and Tallahassee Police Chief, Florida Governor Charlie Crist appointed Walter McNeil as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections.  Secretary McNeil has been invited to address the conference and share the department's efforts to support the prisoner's family.

Ann Edenfield Sweet, Author of "Family Arrested: Surviving the Incarceration of a Loved One", is joined by her sons, Stuart and Curtis Edenfield, to share their personal journey as a "Family Arrested," ultimately leading to the founding of "Wings Ministry" which has become an award winning international ministry to prisoners and their families.

25 Years and Counting: Alison & Jay Coleman weathered the challenge of Jay's 25 year incarceration while successfully raising two beautiful children.  The experience led Alison to form Prison Families of New York , an advocacy and support organization that has effectively changed laws and criminal justice procedures for prison-families. The couple candidly share their struggles with the reality of family reunification.

Thursday Evening General Session - Real Life Reintegration

Eva & Ray Eberhardt, ABC Counseling Center, Ft. Morgan , Colorado , share through music and word, the highs and lows of their experience with family and community reintegration.

Fred Gorwill from Sioux Falls , South Dakota shares his incarceration and re-entry experience leading to his committed involvement with Prison Congregations of America , which supports prisoners in forming their own churches within prison walls.

Bobby McGee shares through music and testimony of his incarceration and re-entry experience, joined by his wife, Nancy McGee and Carolyn Bass in relating their ministry to prisoners and their families.

Practical Issues: Grant Writing & Fund Raising : Alison Coleman, Founder and Director of Prison Families of New York & Grant Reviewer and Carolyn Esparza, LPC, Founder and Director of Community SOLUTIONS, Texas

BONUS:  In-Prison Ministry with Wings: Conference attendees may volunteer for a special trip to an Orlando area prison, for an afternoon of family ministry INSIDE.

Exhibit Tables and Networking Opportunities

PLEASE NOTE:  Community SOLUTIONS and The Prisoner's Family Conference Steering Committee are not personally familiar with each presenter and their material selected for presentation.  Although all presentations are believed to provide valuable information, the selection of the conference presentations does not indicate an endorsement of the materials, organizations or presenters represented. 

TO REGISTER or for further information go to
solutionsforelpaso@juno.com
or
PHONE: 915-861-7733

Volunteer

Sponsor

Donate

Share ideas

Assist in fundraisers

Correspond with FIPs

Provide company tours

Offer paid/unpaid internships

Provide job opportunities

 

Opportunities | Contact Us | A Daylong Designs Site
(512) 581-0213 * 1106 College PO Box 957   Bastrop, TX 78602 . Updated January 13, 2010

© 2006 Minorities for Equality in Employment, Education, Liberty and Justice® A 501c (3) Non-Profit Organization.  All rights reserved.