Dear Volunteers and Friends,
It was wonderful to see many of you on Feb. 5, at our annual appreciation dinner. More than 60 program volunteers and friends of the ministry attended this annual event including Bishop David Walkowiak, Michigan Restorative Justice Council members, reentry officers, and returned citizens. The evening began with a program update which included recognition of our Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Lyn Bullington. We began giving these awards in 2019 and Lyn was the 20th recipient of this award. For the new volunteers attending the dinner, the total number of years that ministry volunteers have served was a testament to the powerful and transforming effect this ministry has on us, the people we serve and our community.
Lyn was recognized for 19 years of service. Lyn has served our Muskegon Prisons since 2005. Throughout the years, she has lead Bible studies, Communion services and RCIA classes at Westshoreline Correctional Facility which closed in 2018 and E. C. Brooks Correctional Facility (LRF). She currently leads Communion services at LRF. We are grateful for Lyn, her service, dedication, and countless yeses to serve our incarcerated brothers.
During the program update, we also honored Ross Hayes with a surprise recognition award. Ross has been instrumental in our reentry ministry. He has taught us about mentoring and journeying with those returning from prison. His story of incarceration, forgiveness, and redemption is powerful and transforming and his faithful witness is changing our community. Ross is part of the C.L.E.A.R (Coalition, Leadership, Educate, Advice, Rehabilitation) group leadership team. C.L.E.A.R. is a peer support group for men who have been formerly incarcerated and/or who are on probation or parole. C.L.E.A.R. exists to break the cycle of recidivism by building community and law enforcement relationships to lead, educate and mentor returning citizens, thereby creating safer communities and improving lives. Weekly meetings are led by a successfully returned citizen in partnership with a uniformed officer. During these meetings, Ross holds people accountable and helps them accept their past poor choices so they can begin to heal and transform their lives. He offers them a path of hope and is a bright light to so many in this often dark world. After serving 35 years in prison, Ross has radically transformed his life and the lives of those who know him since his release in 2009.
During the dinner guests also had the opportunity to hear from the men in prison about how Catholic services have impacted them by watching the video below recorded at Muskegon Correctional and Richard A. Handlon Correctional by the diocesan Director of Communications, Annalise Laumeyer.
