We are excited to turn the page in 2021 and thankful for your support of the work we will be doing this new year! Support like yours allows our team the bandwidth to work at full capacity in this vital work of reintegration. We could not do this without people like you.
Despite the restrictions of COVID, Better Life made significant steps ahead in 2020. We continued to facilitate and support men and women from Federal Corrections Institutes (9 in our Pacific Region), we developed our relationship with Corrections Canada (including Pacific Region Institutions, Parole Offices and Officers, and Halfway Homes), and significantly increased the network of churches that we are able to integrate offenders into.
One of the areas we are most excited about for 2021 is the development of a training team. We are grateful for a number of individuals who bring wisdom and experience to developing Better Life training for the churches and volunteers we work with. This training will be a valuable resource as we continue to reduce recidivism and help parolees to begin to experience a new story and to live a better life.
J.'s message (below) is a fantastic reminder of just how powerful that work can be!
Hello, My name is J., I was housed at William Head Institution for over two years and can say without a doubt that a big difference from any other institution is the volunteers. All of them, from all the groups to the ones who come in for chapel. Many of the chapel volunteers have been there for years and have probably seen a few chaplains come and go. This gives us not only a continuation of support building to our release but a great help after it. I've been blessed for all the connections that I've been able to keep going after I got out, even despite covid. Many Christians who come out of prison are either fooling themselves or don't know where to turn to in a new city. The volunteers can be a great help to both as they continue to minister a safe circle of support and a good dose of a reality check. It was one of the volunteers who connected me to the church I go to now who I've really connected with their pastor who did time in prison some 25+ years ago! The Lord has blessed me so much inside and outside of prison. I've grown in my walk with Jesus and others. I've helped with playing music in the chapel and now at church. "I was in prison, and you came unto me." (Matt. 25:36) In Christ's love and prayer, J.
Thanks again for your support of the vital work of Better Life.
We appreciate you!
Adam Wiggins
General Director
On behalf of
