After six years of preparation, the St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) societies of two Delaware County parishes have opened a home which gives men newly released from the county jail a chance to rebuild their lives in a stable environment.
The renovated four-bedroom home, within walking distance of downtown Delaware, has been serving men since April. It can house as many as four residents at a time and is staffed 24 hours a day by volunteers, case workers, mentors and advocates dedicated to assisting the men in their transition.
References to the home are made by the jail staff or Southeast Healthcare. Men can stay there for as long as two years.
“We are not simply providing a house,” said Chuck Bulick, director of St. Vincent New Beginnings, the ministry operating the facility. “We are offering a home, and with it, the foundation for an entirely new life.
“We want every man we serve to achieve self-sufficiency, including permanent housing and income stability, and never go back to jail.”
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Elizabeth Curtis, a former board chairman of New Beginnings, said the organization was formed in 2020 when representatives of the SVDP and prison ministry of Sunbury St. John Neumann Church discussed their work with Delaware St. Mary Church SVDP members.
“The St. John Neumann groups were conducting programs to prepare men in the county jail with their post-release lives and found that most inmates wound up homeless after they left jail,” she said.
“There were emergency shelters in Columbus and Marion, but these might take a week or two before a space was available. Even then, residency was limited to 60 days. Other options which once were open had disappeared.”
This made many men feel hopeless about what would happen upon their release. Many went back to their former lives. In a number of cases, they just dropped out of sight.
“We didn’t want to be another emergency shelter but wanted to work with men for a longer period so they could make steady progress, repair relationships, become sober, receive health care and save money so they could be fully on their own,” Curtis said.
“When they arrive here, we provide them with some money and clothing and help with transit passes if that’s what they need to get started. Having a home to serve as a safe harbor allows them to decompress without worrying about the stealing or bullying that often occurs when an inmate gets back in touch with people from his past.
“It took a few years, but our two parishes and the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic community in Columbus eventually raised enough money and found a house that fit our requirements.”
Curtis said that in its first six months of operation, three men have been residents of the house. One left after 89 days because he found a job and housing.
“He’s our first success story,” she said. “He took advantage of everything we had to offer. He’s been sober for more than a year, found a job in the construction industry repairing heavy equipment, has a company car, is on good terms with his children, recently got married and is in the process of buying a home.
“He’s very grateful and complimentary about the things we’ve done for him, but he’s first of all the one who did it for himself, with our help.”
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New Beginnings is six years old, but it can trace its beginnings back to 2012 and the founding of the St. John Neumann prison ministry by Chuck Nell and two or three other men of that parish.
“We just started talking one day about visiting men in the jail and realized we all were feeling a calling to do this,” he said. “We started out with two inmates and now get as many as 14 or 15 to whom we minister twice a week.
“One visit is for Bible study and the other for a general curriculum on subjects such as addiction, anger management, mental health, relationships and life skills training – things they can incorporate as part of their preparation for when they’ve finished their jail time.”
New Beginnings is sponsoring a fundraiser at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 (doors open at 6 p.m.) featuring a talk by Bishop Earl Fernandes, a buffet dinner, live music and a charity auction. Curtis will be honored for her work and Deacon Dave Bezusko, senior director of the diocesan vicariate for Catholic social doctrine, will be master of ceremonies.
The event will be at The Ohioan Hotel and Event Center, 100 Green Meadows Drive South, Lewis Center. The site is the former Green Meadows conference center of Farm Bureau Insurance and its successor, Nationwide, and is operated by Nationwide’s real estate affiliate.
Tickets are $30 apiece or $240 for a table of eight, with several levels of sponsorship also available.
For more information, go to www.StVincentNewBeginnings.org/charity_benefit_signup, contact Bulick at CBulick@StVincentNewBeginnings.org or call (740) 417-4312.