CCA Puts Spotlight on National Volunteer Week
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – At Corrections Corporation of America’s (CCA) 64 facilities across the country, more than a thousand correctional volunteers have changed lives, as they’ve helped offenders recover, rehabilitate and ready themselves for reentry into the community. During this year’s National Volunteer Week, April 19-25, CCA honors those individuals and organizations selflessly committed to such volunteerism and public service.
“You can’t put a dollar amount on the value of services the tireless volunteers provide. They have not forgotten the men and women in our prisons,” said John Lanz, CCA director, Industry and Special Programs.
“Inmates understand that volunteers don’t have to be here,” said Tim O’Dell, CCA director, Addictions Treatment and Behavioral Programs. “These people really care, and that’s a powerful stimulant for change.”
“Celebrating People in Action” is the theme for this year’s National Volunteer Week, a focus that Dennis Bradby, CCA vice president, Inmate Programs, finds especially fitting.
“Volunteers are the dedicated decision-makers and doers in their communities,” he said. “Volunteers in our correctional facilities are motivated to seek solutions and solve problems. They are invested in the process – and the people.”
Correctional volunteers often lend literacy and sobriety support to offenders. At CCA facilities, educational volunteers typically bolster life skills, helping offenders prepare for reentry into their communities and homes.
“If you’re trying to prepare people for reintegration into society, volunteers bridge the gap,” said Tom Shaw, CCA director, Educational Services. “They’re interfacing with real people who represent those they may encounter on the outside.”
Several national 12-step addictions treatment programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery, offer support to offenders in CCA facilities, where those participating in the company’s recovery programs find a complement for continued support upon release.
“As an ancillary addition to the treatment programs CCA provides, 12-step programs can be great for follow-up and recovery maintenance work,” added O’Dell. “Our offenders have access to a national network of volunteers with these types of programs.”
In his nearly 30-year correctional career, Lanz has observed an upsurge in the number of faith-based opportunities and an increasing regard for their effectiveness.
“When you want to change people’s hearts, that’s where chaplaincy and religious services come in,” Lanz said. “When inmates think positively and interact with volunteers, you can sense both the measured and the immediate changes that take hold.”
Accordingly, CCA has forged partnerships with leading national and international faith-based organizations, including Alpha Prison Ministries, Champions for Life, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Habitat for Humanity, Prison Fellowship Ministry, Purpose Driven Ministry, School of Christ International, Wheels for the World and others. The company has also developed alliances with the widely viewed Trinity Broadcasting Network and popular Joyce Meyer Ministries to deliver faith-based programming and services to offenders. Additionally, many local churches and other faith-focused groups deliver a range of services to willing offenders.
“The prominence of faith-based services in correctional facilities is a sign of the times,” added Bob Wakefield, CCA coordinator, Religious Programs and Services, who is also an ordained minister. “The inmates are hungry and realize there’s a void in their life. They are hungry for something that will satisfy that void.”
About CCA
CCA is the nation’s largest owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities and one of the largest prison operators in the United States, behind only the federal government and three states. CCA currently operates 64 facilities, including 44 company-owned facilities, with a total design capacity of approximately 85,000 beds in 19 states and the District of Columbia. CCA specializes in owning, operating and managing prisons and other correctional facilities and providing inmate residential and prisoner transportation services for governmental agencies. CCA facilities offer a variety of rehabilitation and educational programs intended to reduce recidivism and to prepare inmates for successful re-entry into society upon their release. To learn more about CCA, visit our online news site www.insidecca.com.