How can you help?
To volunteer call Wanda Johnson - Nielsen House - 328-0801
Are there any rules or guidelines that volunteers need to follow?
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach is committed to integrity in the work place. Though our ministry often takes place in informal as well as formal settings, volunteers are responsible for high ethical conduct at all times. We value honesty in sharing and record keeping. We uphold the dignity of each person and honor his/her experience and story. We are committed to each person’s safety—physical, emotional, and mental—by the wise and just use of the power of our positions. We respect the principles and teachings of Spiritus Christi Church and the Prison Outreach. Above all, we honor the sanctity and equality of each person regardless of the differences of birth or learned experiences.
Nielsen House Staff...
OVERNIGHT STAFF: Luther Knight
-Nielsen House Director -House Manager &
& Operational Manager Reentry Coordinator Assistant
(585-328-0801) (585-328-0801)
Henri Nouwen, a spiritual author who spent much of his life working in a group home, once wrote: “Home is a place where we do not have to be afraid but can let go of our defensives and be free: free from the worries, free from the tensions, free from the pressures. Home is where we can laugh and cry, embrace and dance, sleep long and dream quietly, eat, read, play, listen to music and be with a friend. Home is where we can rest and be healed.”
On January 15th 2008 we opened Nielsen House, our home for men entering the community from jail and prison. This year nearly 700,000 men and women will return to the community after serving time in the jail and prisons throughout this country. Most of these men and women are destined to commit new crimes and return to incarceration if they are not able to access safe housing in a structured supportive environment. The cost of violence to our community is devastating; the cost of incarceration is astronomical. The Prison Outreach has been interrupting this cycle for nearly three decades.
At Nielsen House we provide safe, stable housing for men leaving jail, and prison. We will assist men to become self-sufficient members of the community and in time, leaders for other men battling substance abuse and mental health issues. Children are reunited with their fathers in a supportive, structured, drug-free environment, which greatly benefits the children. In this way, we help to break the cycle of crime and increase community safety.
Men’s Residential Program
