The InnerChange Freedom Initiative® (IFI) was a privately funded program that provided educational, values-based services to prisoners on a voluntary and noncompulsory basis to help prepare them to re-enter the workplace, religious and community life, and family and social relationships. The program was based on values reflected in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ but was open to prisoners of all faiths or no faith. Living in the same prison housing unit, participants were taught values and life skills for up to 18 months. Participants then received guidance from a mentor and support from a local faith community for 12 months after they were released from prison.
IFI was first launched in Texas' Carol S. Vance Unit in 1997. Additional IFI sites opened in other states, including units for men and women in Minnesota.
In 2016, the program was renamed the Prison Fellowship Academy®. That same year, Prison Fellowship® launched its 40 to Fifty campaign, with the goal of having Academy sites for men and women in all 50 states by 2026.
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THE PRISON FELLOWSHIP ACADEMY
Visit our Academy page for more information, including a program overview and information on the 40 to Fifty campaign.
THE HISTORY OF THE PRISON FELLOWSHIP ACADEMY
Read our exclusive feature on the history of the Academy, including how the program has helped thousands of prisoners since its early days as the InnerChange Freedom Initiative.