This Valentine's Day, female offenders at the New Mexico Women's Correctional Facility have more than a visit from Cupid to look forward to; they will spend an entire day with their families thanks to the Wings Ministry, a faith-based organization that offers support to inmates and their loved ones.

The women will have an opportunity to bond with their family members at the annual Wings Ministry Valentine's Day party, which will be held at the Grants, New Mexico prison on February 19.  Wings also hosts parties inside New Mexico correctional facilities during the Christmas, Easter and Back-to-School seasons.

"[Our] goal is for [the inmates] to come and meet with loved ones in an environment that is truly a party situation," said Ann Edenfield, Executive Director of the Wings Ministry.  "They get to do things in the prison that they normally would never get to do."

The holiday parties are just one way in which the Wings Ministry reaches out to offenders and the individuals outside who are affected by their incarceration.  Beyond the gatherings the group organizes behind bars, the Wings Ministry holds parties and meetings in the community for inmates' children, parents and spouses.

According to Edenfield, Wings' mission is to connect inmates' families to religious organizations and Christian citizens in the community who can support them while their loved ones are incarcerated and when they return home.  She pointed out that the children of inmates are eight times more likely to end up in prison than other kids, so it is especially important to provide them with positive role models and extra support in order to break the cycle of incarceration.

"It is a pattern of life that has to be changed," Edenfield said.

Maintaining Ties

Wings seeks to facilitate that change in a variety of ways.  The parties that take place on-site at prisons are one important aspect of the Wings' goal, which is to keep offenders and their families connected to each other and to faith-based groups in the community.

At the New Mexico women's prison, where the Valentine's Day party will take place in a few weeks, warden Bill Snodgrass is happy to have a partnership with an organization like Wings, which bolsters the prison staff's effort to rehabilitate the offenders.

"Wings plays a really important and positive role [here]," said Snodgrass.  "I think that one thing that we have a tendency to overlook is how important the female - the mother or the grandmother - [is] within the family," he said.  "To keep that bonding and that relationship going is so important."

While the parties help to keep the connection between offenders and their families fresh while they are in prison, a new Wings Ministry program is aimed at giving family members the practical skills they need to survive in the community during a loved one's incarceration.

All of these efforts, together, are designed to keep the family in tact.

Skills to Succeed

According to Edenfield, Wings for L.I.F.E. (Life-skills for Inmates Families & Education) is an empowerment program, which began last May and features discussion, mentoring and support for the family members of inmates.  The program also sponsors trips for offenders' children and outreach activities, enabling program participants to give back to the community.

"I am really absolutely thrilled about [Wings for L.I.F.E.]," said Edenfield.  "Any family members that come always say 'Wow.  This is exactly what I needed to hear.'"

The Wings for L.I.F.E. program is open to all family members of inmates and volunteers in the community who wish to attend meetings and lend a helping hand.  The program is an extension of the Wings Ministry, but it is not faith-based, Edenfield said.

"L.I.F.E. meetings are empowerment groups," Edenfield said.  "We don't deal with the past.  We deal with issues that are going to help in improving [inmates' families] day-to-day living."

The L.I.F.E. groups, which range in size from 15 attendees to nearly 100, meet twice a month and cover a variety of issues that affect offenders' families.

Group discussions focus on topics like finances, disciplining children, single parenting, acceptance in the community, dealing with the media when a loved on is arrested for a crime, maximizing prison visits, legal issues and planning for a family members return home.

The issues the program addresses are based on research conducted by the Search Institute, a Minnesota-based non-profit, which promotes well-being for youth in the community.  Wings for L.I.F.E. discussions are structured around Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets, a list the organization has compiled of assets that are essential to raising successful children.

The 40 Developmental Assets encompass both internal and external qualities and include family support, positive peer influence, school engagement, honesty and a sense of purpose.

"We target one of those every single week," said Edenfield.  "We try to strengthen the family by using their research," she added.  "We highlight [the 40 Developmental Assets] every time that we meet and we gear it specifically for the family of prisoners."

Aside from having group discussions, Wings for L.I.F.E. participants also perform community service.  Every fifth meeting, the group does an outreach activity, like working at a food or clothing bank.

"A lot of these families receive these kinds of community outreach, but now they are learning that they can give back," Edenfield said.

Additionally, Wings for L.I.F.E. takes children on outdoor adventures.  A recent camping trip the program sponsored, was a new experience for many children, Edenfield said.

"They had never slept in a tent.  They had never slept in a sleeping bag," she said.  "We sang around the campfire and we made smores."

Aside from camping, Wings for L.I.F.E. has also run a backpacking trip for teenagers who were given an opportunity to hike the Continental Divide.

"My guess is it [was] probably one of the highlights of their entire life," Edenfield said.  "We've been able to give them that experience."

Wings for L.I.F.E. has also been able to match children of prisoners up with volunteer mentors from the community.  The mentors are invited to come to the Wings for L.I.F.E. meetings to get acquainted with the kids before they start spending time one-on-one together.

"Just come and be with us and join in the discussion, spend some time and build a relationship," Edenfield said.  "Then you have something to talk about later and it breaks down a lot of the fear [on the part of the] mentor to be a mentor."

Another advantage to having the mentors attend the meetings, according to Edenfield, is that they all become familiar with all of the children.  That way, she explained, if a mentor needs to leave the program, the children will not feel abandoned because they have bonded with other volunteers, as well.

With all of its components designed to support inmates' children and other family members, Edenfield believes a program like Wings for L.I.F.E. is vital for any community, not just in Albuquerque where it is currently based.  With replication of the program in mind, she has created an outline for other communities to follow in creating a Wings for L.I.F.E. program there.

"Our Wings for L.I.F.E. [program] is something that could be modeled anywhere," Edenfield said.  "It's the kind of program that is needed all over the world." 
But for now, the program is centered in New Mexico, where Edenfield hopes that all of the Wings Ministry's efforts will help to improve outcomes for offenders and the lives of their family members. 

"If we can strengthen that family unit, the chance of cutting recidivism [is greater]," Edenfield said.  "[We seek to] give people wings so they can fly on their own through life."

Resources:

www.WingsMinistry.org

Ann Edenfield (505) 291-9840 or AnnEdenfield@WingsMinistry.org