Program Services
This Sacred Space is a non-profit organization that believes that change is possible for all regardless of one’s life condition. Our purpose is to share the message that change is possible, and it is immediate. The change we speak of is an inner quickening that comes about 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.
Currently This Sacred Space is operating the following programs:
• This Sacred Space Men’s Group: Weekly facilitated personal growth and empowerment group in H-Unit in San Quentin State Prison. This program is a part of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s (CDCR) Successful Transitions and New Direction Utilizing Partnerships (STAND-UP) programs, which are a part of CDCR’s Recidivism Reduction program. See the CDCR’s handbook describing STAND-UP programs.
• This Sacred Space Newsletter, Sacred Circle Prison Newsletter: Quarterly communique from staff and volunteers with This Sacred Space to persons who are currently incarcerated as well as writings from those who are currently incarcerated.
• This Sacred Space Working Group, Coming Soon: The men of This Sacred Space in H-Unit/San Quentin Prison have given their support for the development of a Working Group that will meet to formulate the next steps in the growth of This Sacred Space.
Additionally, This Sacred Space is participating in the formation of a coalition of organizations that offer services in San Quentin State Prison that is inquiring into how we can align to offer more integrated services.
This Sacred Space was born from the experiences of Kenny Johnson, who founded this organization in 2006 with the generous support from good friends.
BACKGROUND
Kenny’s Story
“I had to find a power that would not only get me through my current sentence, but would free me from prison forever.”
Kenny Johnson devoted his life to crime, beginning in his early teens and served over twenty years in various city, county, state, and federal prisons.
During his early years in prison, he spent most of his time participating in religious and substance abuse groups. It was his inner desire for freedom that led him and a band of truth-seekers to a meeting in the prison chapel. There, Gangaji, a spiritual teacher, answered his most pressing question:
“It is my understanding that we have to wait until we die before we can receive God’s Grace. Is that so?” She replied, “Kenny, God’s Grace is here now! Kenny you think you are a convict, you think you are your name, you think you are a black man. Kenny you are none of these things.”
Instantly he knew he would never be a thief again. But how do you re-enter the world outside without resorting to old weaknesses? How would he survive and how would it be possible to maintain his newly found experience of grace?
“This ever present Grace supports me in each moment now.”
Paroled from prison in 1997 and successfully discharged from supervision, Kenny now resides in California. Over 5 years, during a rigorous schedule of prison service and the help of those with who he worked in prison, Kenny was able to develop a model of rehabilitation grounded in psychospiritual growth. He calls this model Sacred Circle work, and it is founded foremost in the honest meeting of persons who are seeking to heal and know themselves more deeply.
FACT
Researchers report that prisoners who come under religious influence while they’re behind the walls do better once they return to society than those who lack religious influence in prison.
Richard Charles, This Sacred Space Facilitator, has facilitated a This Sacred Space men’s group weekly at San Quentin State Prison for 4 years. His dedicated service has been both self-healing and self-empowering as well as helpful and empowering to those that participate in the This Sacred Space program. Through his commitment, This Sacred Space has developed into a strong group of men who are finding their own healing, leadership skills, and support for each other.
“Every great man, every successful man, no matter what the field of endeavor, has known the magic that lies in these words: every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” -W. Clement Stone
