Our Mission:
To Serve as a Unifying Voice in the
Name of Jesus Christ
for the Mission of the Gospel
and the Wholeness of Communities
We represent:
- 1,000,000 Christians
-
2,000 Congregations
-
26 Judicatories
- In 10 Counties
HOPE for Prisoners
Christian Associates provides chaplaincy services for the Allegheny County Jail.
In 2002, the Chaplains’ Office established HOPE, an acronym for “Helping Open People’s Eyes,” which is a faith-based pre- and post-release program for inmates.
HOPE’s mission is to provide intensive discipleship, practical resources,
and
one-on-one mentoring to the men and women incarcerated in the Allegheny
County Jail.
Through choice awareness and spiritual enhancement training, the program helps offenders rebuild their lives, reconcile to their community, and restore their relationship with God and their neighbors.
Inmates pray during a Pod of HOPE graduation ceremony.
Any inmate in minimum and medium security can be enrolled in the program, regardless of ethnic background, age, or religion. Pod 2C in the Allegheny County Jail is known as the “Pod of Hope” and has a capacity for 95 men.
The overall recidivism rate for prisoners in the Allegheny County jail is 70 percent. Between 2006 and 2008, the recidivism rate for graduates of the Pod of Hope is 12.5 percent.
In March 2009, a Pod of Hope for women was established.
Inmates pray during class time at the women's Pod of HOPE.
HOPE provides an effective intensive, 8-week course curriculum. It involves several hundred volunteers who serve as instructors, mentors and after-care workers.
The curriculum draws upon the guiding principles of Prison Fellowship,
as well as resource materials developed by the former Director of Chaplaincy
Services, Rev. Ulli Klemm, and Lutheran pastor, Rev. John Cochran.
For more information on HOPE,
contact Rev. Kimberly Greway, Director of Chaplaincy Services,
at 412-350-2057
or kimberly.greway@alleghenycounty.us.
Allegheny County Jail
"As Director of Chaplaincy Services at the Allegheny County Jail, I am humbled by God's call on my life to serve the least, the lost and many times the forgotten.
The Chaplain's office offers hope and light to the incarcerated as well as the staff at the jail.
We serve an awesome God and marvel at
His wonderous works within the walls and
outside the walls of the jail."
Rev. Kimberly Greway
Director of Chaplaincy Services
Allegheny County Jail