This Sacred Space

I wish I knew how it would feel to be Free

I wish I could break all the chains holding me

I wish I could say all the things that I should say

Say ’em loud and clear for the whole world to hear

I wish you could know what it means to be me

I wish I could live like I’m longing to live

Well I wish I could be like a bird in the sky

Oh, I’d soar to the sun and look at the sea

Then I’d sing cos I’d know how it feels to be free

—Nina Simone

OUR VISION

This Sacred Space is dedicated to Opening The Door of Truth and Freedom by inviting you to experience the abiding Grace that lives within each of us.

FACTS

• One in 36 adults in under correctional control in California (Pew, 2009).
• Nationally, one black man in nine between the ages of 20 and 34 is incarcerated, a rate 6 times higher than for whites in the same age group. Some 65% of black high school dropouts spend part of their lives behind bars (Pew, 2008).
• In California, 42% of people released from prison reoffend and return to prison within 3 years (Pew, 2011). Eighteen percent of these people commit new crimes and 40% return to prison for a technical violation (Pew, 2011).
• Recidivism rates in California are rising despite efforts at reduction and have increased 5.5% when measuring recidivism rates in the periods 1999-2002 and 2004-2007 (Pew, 2011).
• California utilizes a policy of imprisonment for people who commit technical violations during their parole, which has resulted in keeping California’s prison population “the highest in the nation” (Pew, 2011, p. 18). California typically mandates parole for 3 years, which requires parolees to meet strict conditions for an extensive period, which translates into higher recidivism rates for technical violation of parole terms.
• Implementing evidence-based practices has been shown to reduce recidivism by 50% (Andrews, et al., 1990). California stands to save $233.1 million if it reduces it recidivism rate by 10% (Pew, 2011).
• Dr. Joan Petersilia, one of the most widely respected American experts on community corrections, notes that “intensive community supervision combined with rehabilitation services can reduce recidivism between 10 and 20%” (Pew, 2007, p. 1). She stated further that community corrections agencies that work closely with non-profits and community-based organizations that work towards integrating the person who was formerly incarcerated with their familial and community support system are the most successful.

WHO WE SERVE

This Sacred Space’s Prison Program provides services to groups and individuals who are currently incarcerated or were previously incarcerated.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES

The goals of This Sacred Space’s Prison Program are to establish a community based partnership with various city, county, state, and federal agencies and to enable the authentic rehabilitation of people who are and have been incarcerated and reduce recidivism rates through empowering empirically-validated prison-based and post-prison programming.

We strive to achieve these goals through the following objectives:

• Assist participants to release suppressed thoughts, feelings, and emotions through compassionate one-on-one and group interactions.
• Provide a secure environment where the concerns and aspirations of participants can be voiced.
• Encourage participants to change the way that they perceive and process information which in-turn promotes behavioral change.
• Influence a shift in consciousness/awareness which will be the soil from which new values and behaviors grow.
• Teach participants to celebrate and value their own lives, thus promoting empathy towards others.
• To network and create linkages with synergistic individuals and organizations in the Bay Area and beyond to support the successful development of TSS through participation in local prison-related alliances, reentry services events, conferences, and governmental and non-governmental trainings, events, and activities.

PROGRAM RATIONALE

More than two million adult felons are incarcerated in the United States. Countless others have served prior jail or prison sentences, or are at risk of future incarceration. The number of people victimized by this segment of our population is too great to estimate. Unfortunately in California, not enough is being done to promote the type of meaningful healing that leads to true rehabilitation and the reconciliation of self, family, and community.

Convicted felons and those who act out in ways that are contrary to their natural selves can trace their anti-social behavior to pent-up emotions and feelings that block healing. They have yet to recognize and develop the forgiveness needed to move beyond occurrences in their lives that caused them suffering. They hold on to a sense of hopelessness that leads them to indulgences such as alcohol, drug, and sexual addiction, as well as criminal behavior.

Through dialogue and groupwork (talking one-to-one or in groups); contemplation (thinking deeply on a specific statement or text); and meditation (being quiet and witnessing what arises in your heart and mind). This Sacred Place Prison Program provides guidance and insight that assists participants in developing a spiritual and emotional IQ, which then empowers participants to successfully overcome destructive dynamics in their lives.

The process utilized by This Sacred Space’s Prison Program promotes a change or paradigm shift within participants. Grace occurs as a result of this shift and begins to guide our participants through life’s pitfalls and celebrations. Our organization promotes acknowledgement of, integrity in, and responsibility for personal choices. By developing empathy for others, participants learn to celebrate and value their own lives, whereby promoting a strong impetus towards well being. Our style of working in group settings also provides participants with the support of a new group with which to bond, which allows participants to incubate and develop themselves in a more positive and healthy social environment.