May 2009 Ministry Update

I recently wrote an update on H4H for my friend Wayne Bowers at ATSA/SORT and I thought you would benefit from it as well.

(H4H is on the verge of getting some funding but in the meantime, any help you can provide to help cover expenses, such as travel to meetings, etc., would be greatly appreciated. Also, in the reorganization of Heart Menders, we want to clarify that, for now, H4H is not a separate entity, but a subsidiary program of Heart Menders. So donations are definitely tax deductible, but checks need to be made out to Heart Menders, with "Hope for the Hopeless" designated in the memo area."

www.heartmenders.org
www.hope-for-the-hopeless.com


H4H UPDATE

A brief update: I attended the Prisoner Reentry Initiative seminar on "Mentoring" last week in OKC and, in front of a group of about 100 people, the subject of Reentry for RSO's (registered sex offenders) came up. No one seemed to have any answers, so I commandeered the microphone and told them what we are doing at Hope for the Hopeless. I had half a dozen people approach me afterward, including the rep from Oklahoma Access to Recovery, who said they have grant money to pay H4H to help RSO's get reintegrated into society from prison. We are in the process of registering to become one of the main OATR providers.

Also, I am meeting with Scott Martinson of DOC on Monday for lunch. He is the Transition (reentry) Coordinator for OKC. They have wraparound support services available for RSO's and they want to partner with H4H -- we're going to discover how at that meeting. Hopefully, some funding can be obtained to fund the establishment of an community-and-faith-based RSO residential facility for housing and on-going treatment. (I think all of the pieces are in place for this now, except the zoning issue - the NIMBY syndrome.)

Also, I believe the Lord is giving the green light to the PESOS concept (Partnership for Excellence in Sex Offender Supervision), with modifications. Instead of it being an advocacy group for RSO's, I believe it will (initially, at least) be a coalition of faith-based ministries who are involved in reentry that want to help RSO's. There was some consensus and momentum for this concept established at the PRI event. If the OATR funding will get behind this as well, then we're golden. I think we will start meeting monthly in June to hash out the details of the coalition.