Friends
of Prison Families Mission Is
a coalition of organizations working together on a model of friendship and trust
to nurture and sustain one of the most invisible populations in our community
– the families of inmates. Kingswood UMC supports this ministry
by providing a van and driver on the second Saturday of every month. Twelve times
each year a driver picks up 12 or more passengers from the Inman MARTA station,
along with several vans from other churches, and drives them to Hancock prison
in Sparta, Georgia. The passengers visit for three hours and then are driven back
to the MARTA station. As a volunteer driver, here is what you do: - Pick
up the van at Kingswood at 7:45 am and head down to the Inman Park MARTA station.
- Arrive between 8:30 – 8:45 am at the Inman Park MARTA station and
pick up your passengers. The passengers are on a pre-arranged list and have a
“reservation” for the trip. They are known quantities and all are part
of a larger program that assists them in working through their loved one’s
being away and in jail.
- At 9:00 am, all vans depart in convoy
fashion for a two hour drive to a local restaurant in close proximity to the prison.
Here, you can order lunch and enjoy some time visiting with the families.
At
11:45 am, you leave as a group and go to the prison, arriving at noon where the
passengers get off the vans and enter check-in. Drivers do not go in; you stay
in the van and decide how to spend your next three hours of free time.
- Free
time – you can walk around the downtown area, hike the woods near the state
park about 10 miles away, read, jog, work, etc. … whatever. It is free time
and up to you on how to spend it. The Hancock County Library is also in town and
they have computers with internet access, etc.
- At 3:00 pm, you
pick up your group and begin the drive back to Atlanta, arriving around 5:00 pm
at the MARTA station.
| 
Clay
Snellings If you would like to talk to Clay concerning
this mission, he can be reached at:
770-617-0357. |
 olunteer
Opportunities
Richard Layfield was on the Board of FOPF and did most of the
monthly drives himself. I, and a few others, drove a few times over the past few
years. With Richard relocating to Florida in early 2003, I was asked to coordinate
for KUMC and recruit drivers to do either one or two trips per year. It is actually
a very nice day where you get to do some driving, eat a free lunch with three
hours of “me” time before heading back to Atlanta and being home before
6:00 pm.
olunteer
Benefits "For
me, this has been a very meaningful mission. It is a quiet, humbling experience
where I am reminded how fortunate my family and I are. My daily grumblings are
often much less the week after I do this trip. The passengers are moms, dads,
sons, daughters and wives of the men who are in prison. Some are quiet, some express
their gratitude, some seem very happy and discuss their faith as the reason …
all are different. If it were not for this ministry, many would not get to visit
their loved ones, period. They have no car and no money for other means of transportation,
etc. One more thought – I am about as conservative as they come and
believe fully in our justice system. To be blunt, I support this ministry because
the family members, who have not committed the crime -- especially the children
-- might not otherwise be able to visit their loved ones. I believe their suffering
and loneliness is diminished because of this ministry. Additionally, this program
has a statistically significant impact on reducing the re-incarceration rate of
the released prisoners. It also is an opportunity for the drivers to be one of
the few examples of Christ many of them might ever come across. " In
his service, Clay Snellings |
