Circles of Support

The Circles of Support is a program of Jail Ministry in LaCrosse, WI. Circles of Support, a grassroots re-entry program for men and women leaving incarceration, is situated in a nation that imprisons more people per capita that anywhere on earth. We see that as a moral problem and a blight on our cultural character. At the same time, we are situated in La Crosse County, a community whose leaders and organizations have been successful in creating alternatives to incarceration. We seek to cooperate with community members, offenders, and the local criminal justice system to help heal our societal disease of mass incarceration. We believe that healing our nation's incarceraton problem must involve engaging individuals and local communities, and that such a healing process includes people overcoming their unexamined prejudices and moving across social boundaries. While practical and professional support, such as therapy, behavioral classes, probaionary restrictions, financial assistance, are often necessary when dealing with released inmates, we see our role as primarily relational. Through these Circles, we seek to model for the greater La Crosse area a way of being a community that values our interdependence. In this kind of community, individuals from relationships ourside of their often isolated social and economic spheres. People's attitudes about incarcerated individuals move beyond the limits of labels like "sex offender," "addict," or "abuser". Respect and dignity for each person emerges and people come to acknowledge that crime is not only the outcome of an individual's behaviors, but also a manifestation of cultural problems for which we all share responsibility.

The Circles of Support program connects a recently released inmate or incarcerated individual (Core Member) with 3 or 4 trained volunteers. The Circle meets regularly for at least 6 months with the volunteers offering guidance and encouragement as the Core Member encounters the many changes of transitioning from incarceration back to the community. The Core Member is in a better position to find health and stability if he or she is introduced to a network of friends.