Written by Miller Richardson
From the outside Walker State Prison looks like any other state penitentiary. Brick walls, wire fences, and a hidden location away from the public eye. When driving past it one would never expect it to have the lowest recidivism rate in the state of Georgia. This is the result of Walker State being a faith and character-based prison. By running this prison with values and beliefs rooted in love for one another Georgia has seen incredible results out of Walker State.
Back in 2004, the Georgia Department of Corrections implemented the Faith and Character Based initiative to provide Georgia with a model for positive change. This program runs on a holistic approach and allows inmates to partner with volunteers to strengthen their minds, body, and spirit in a positive way.
Walker State is the only prison in the state of Georgia that is partnered with a faith and character-based initiative and subsequently the only prison in Georgia with a recidivism rate of less than 2%.
While there are many ministries running through Walker State, one particular one that has made a positive impact is Metanoia Prison ministries. Metanoia Prison Ministries is a nationwide organization dedicated to discipleship, mentoring, and reintegrating inmates through a correspondence-based ministry. Inmates are paired with mentors throughout their time who guide them through a walk of faith and new beginnings outside of prison.
With the extreme success rate at Walker State other prisons have reached out and expressed interest in getting involved in the programs in hopes of having similar results. Walker State has been able to have the least amount of fights, the least amount of contraband, and the least amount of volunteer problems.
“There’s a hunger there, you’d want to have that. But also, there’s a real demonstration of love that occurs when you go into a facility,” said Mark Casson, former executive director for Metanoia State Prison.
When it comes to love, Barry Smith, the regional director of Metanoia State credits much of his involvement with the prison ministry to unconditional love. Smith was a pastor of a church in Maryland before he became an alcoholic due to his struggles with depression. During one of his lowest moments, Smith says his wife demonstrated her deep and loving commitment to him.
“That was the first time I can remember really hearing from a flesh and blood person true unconditional love.”
That love then allowed him to further his knowledge of theological love and “the love that I knew about God,” said Smith. He then felt a call to ministry and found his purpose in Metanoia’s prison ministries.
Walker State Prison is a smaller facility, holding around 450-460 inmates at a time. It’s different from other prisons because of its requirements to attend. Walker State accepts inmates who have proven they want to change their lives by having several years of no Discipline Reports (DR) and going through an application process. Inmates who have been taken out of that traditional prison environment have seen increased progress in the program due to the new environment.
“When you move them out of that environment where others don’t want to change”, said Smith. “They are encouraged by one another.”
Smith also credits the staff at Walker State for the success of the programs. Smith explained how much of the senior administrative staff hails from the counseling side of the job as opposed to the security side. Therefore, they are naturally inclined to help inmates rather than control them. Alan Bonderud, a principal officer for Metanoia ministries, expressed his experience with correctional officers benefiting from the programs themselves. Many have gone on to get college educations in social service and criminal justice with the primary purpose of moving up in the program and becoming a counselor to inmates.
During each month The Georgia Department of Corrections requires a report from each prison in the state. These reports include statistics on how many incidents the prison had during the month including murders, altercations, drugs, how often the prison was put on lockdown, and more. During the first warden’s time at Walker State Bonderud said that Walker State was the last name on the report and had zeros in every single column.
“He was getting calls from people saying why aren’t they collecting your numbers, they are, they’re zero”
With such positive results from inmates, reports, and individuals, it is clear the impact that a faith and character-based prison has on inmates. Inmates are no longer treated like a statistic but as a real human who matters both inside and outside of prison. “When there’s love involved in the transformation, that’s the element that reduces recidivism,” Casson said. “It doesn’t just go into the prisoner, it goes from the prisoner into other people as well.”
Like Paul
Written by Maya Spratley
Beige walls, dimmed lights, and blaring noise would usually create a setting that would scare individuals away; however, Metanoia Prison Ministries finds itself eagerly in environments like this twice a month.
What started out as a “mom and pop” ministry with the vision of engaging with individuals on a personal level and developing life connections has now expanded to 49 of the 50 states. The ministry was partially spearheaded by former executive director Mark Casson. Founded with Biblical figures such as Paul, Joseph, and Daniel in mind Metanoia Prison Ministries has made its sole mission to reach individuals within the prison system through one on one mentorship.
“Prisoners are the forgotten people of our land,” Casson said. “We lock them up in places that people don’t think about. They need to have the same life on life experience.”
Within the ministry there are three main areas: discipleship, mentoring, and reintegration. Inmates must first apply to the discipleship program. To be accepted, the inmates must be serving a sentence that has possibility of parole. Individuals can be from any religious background and belief system. They are then given a bible study curriculum and matched with a mentor.
These mentors are tasked with meeting up with their mentee twice a month. When the mentor is not meeting in person with their mentee they write letters encouraging them in their faith and within other areas of their life.
Mentors within this program are volunteers choosing to answer the call to “love thy neighbor”. The only requirement to be a mentor is that the individual fulfilling the mentor spot is Christian. This is due to the ministries distinctly Christian-based ideals.
The mentors are a hot commodity due to their high demand. People within the ministry program can be waitlisted for up to two years trying to be accepted. Casson believes that this is due to the love and attention that volunteers give to the inmates.
“There is a hunger to have that [connection]. There is a real demonstration of love that occurs when you go into a facility,” Casson then explained how showing up makes all the differences. It makes individuals feel humanized.
The human connection that is gained through this program is not limited to the four walls of a cinder block cell. After serving their sentence, the formerly incarcerated individuals are matched with a church body.
Metanoia Ministries proves that showing up and doing life with people makes a difference. Their ideals of having personal relationships in settings that others would not have proved effective. Metanoia Ministries has a recidivism rate of less than 5% among individuals who go through the program.
Meet the Storytellers
Lexi Foley is a senior studying Communication with a minor in Criminal Justice at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Foley serves as the Editor in Chief of Rising Rock as well as the Sports Editor and staff photographer for the UTC Echo. She can be found running around Chattanooga with a keyboard and camera looking for stories of love, adventure, and tenacity. Using her background as a collegiate athlete, Foley’s passion is to inspire hope through highlighting human perseverance and heart. Find her work at https://www.theutcecho.com/ and https://foleyphotographs.smugmug.com/. Contact her at dmy375@mocs.utc.edu.
Maya Spratley is a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga majoring in Communication and Psychology. She looks to explore her creativity through photography, audio, and writing. Through these outlets, she hopes to one day work with the arts doing mixed media marketing. Due to Spratley being a dancer herself, she appreciates the beauty of capturing genuine moments that convey human experience. She often does this by finding inspiration in the creative arts such as music, dance, and art. For any collaboration opportunities or inquiries, email Spratley at plr944@mocs.utc.edu.
Drew White is a senior at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a major in
Communication and a minor in Theatre. White’s passion lies in video production and editing. Because of White’s engaging narratives created in her video edits, White has amassed 26,000 followers on a TikTok page showcasing her edits with over 3 million likes and 10 million accumulated views. White hopes to continue to touch the hearts of people through her edits in mediums such as television, film, or music videos. White has also done editing work for the Delta Phi Lambda Sorority at UTC and hopes to continue to secure editing jobs, both on and off campus. If you are looking for footage to be edited, don’t hesitate to reach out at spd392@mocs.utc.edu.
Silas Pankratz is a photographer with a passion for people and media production. He is a third-year student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he also works as student staff at a Christian campus ministry called The House. Additionally, Panktraz works as a marketing assistant at Todd Henon Properties. The responsibilities he has to his many bosses, coworkers, and professors have taught him to work with intentionality and manage his time efficiently. As an avid lover of music, Panktraz often spends his spare time playing instruments or listening to records. He is a musical worship leader at The
House and a local Chattanooga church, where his love of music has a sense of purpose. He also enjoys attending and photographing live concerts and musical performances, further highlighting his love of photography and people. Contact Panktraz at silaspan@gmail.com
Miller Richardson is a junior at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga majoring in Communication and minoring in Theatre. She has a passion for fine arts, specifically music, theatre and dance. She is currently a feature writer for the UTC Echo as well as a member of the UTC Theatre Company. She is skilled in both writing and audio as she is the host of her own book podcast BYOB (Bring Your Own Books). She hopes to use her skills to create for space for the arts to be recognized and celebrated. After graduation her goal is to work in the voiceover and entertainment journalism industry. For inquires or collaborations you can contact her at myz498@mocs.utc.edu.
RISING ROCK found a real story worth the telling. You listened carefully to the real people who spend themselves so unselfishly for others’ benefits in a challenging prison environment. Their work matters. Thank you for bringing the work at Walker State Faith and Character Prison to life for the people of Chattanooga and our region in such a well presented article.