PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG: Florida

She witnessed her family and others being torn apart by incarceration. Now Erica is using her voice as a Justice Ambassador to help restore similar lives.

Left in her grandmother's care, Tatianna would pray at Christmas and New Year's, 'I just want my mama here.'

In a historic vote, Florida passes Amendment 4 and restores voting rights to the 1.5 million Floridians with a felony record.

"Jesus Christ came in and taught me how to parent my children because of Angel Tree."

Lázaro hoped to get rich quick, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

“Justice that restores. What does that mean?  Who are we restoring? Where are we restoring them to?”

Prison Fellowship President and CEO James Ackerman asks these questions to a recent gathering of volunteers in Tampa, Florida. The answer, he suggests, can be found in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Learn to do right.

The written word. It has the muscle to enlarge minds.

To touch hearts.

To educate and inspire.

That’s why Mike Oliver collects and organizes books each week that will be sent to Florida prisoners.

But there’s another reason.

Five years ago, Oliver, 72, was incarcerated and knows how good it felt to receive reading material while serving time.

What does it take to be a prison warden?

The answer to that question is rapidly shifting.

“Corrections has changed,” explains Warden Chris Hendry, Martin Correctional Institution (Indiantown, Florida). “We’re not ‘prison bosses’ anymore. We’re not in the same environment we used to be.”