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2022: 19th MCI-Norfolk Intensive + More Updates
Jericho Circle volunteers stand proud at the first intensive in nearly three years due to the pandemic.
I hope the holiday season is treating you well! This is our year-end update on Jericho Circle’s emotional healing work with incarcerated individuals and returning citizens. With your help, 2022 has been a milestone year for our organization and there is much to celebrate. Here are some of the highlights:
MCI-Norfolk
In April, following a two-year lockout, we resumed in-person circles at MCI-Norfolk (the medium security Massachusetts DOC institution where we’ve operated since 2008). Our reunion with the inside Circle Guides was highly emotional and provided a much-needed boost of energy all around. We’ve since completed two full 8-week cycles (totaling over 1,000 individual contact hours with the inside men), and plan to expand to a second weeknight in 2023. Since July, we have also run day-long Saturday trainings twice a month with the Circle Guides to deepen the leadership container and strengthen facilitation.
In November, we held our 19th MCI-Norfolk intensive (the first in three years due to the pandemic), with 23 inside men and 20 volunteers in attendance. It was a huge success and we were well-supported by the institution, including a personal visit from the Director of Treatment and a follow-up email from the prison Superintendent articulating the vital role of volunteer programs such as Jericho Circle. Next year we are planning a record 4 intensives at MCI-Norfolk, including an all-gender intensive! The (tentative) dates for our 2023 weekends are:
March 24-26 (Norfolk #20)
June 9-11 (Norfolk #21)
September 22-24 (Norfolk #22)
November 10-12 (Norfolk #23)
Maine State Prison
The year at Maine State Prison began with a pandemic lockdown in place. In April, our team of volunteers, led by Jonathan Purinton, was able to resume weekly circles. The circles have met continuously since then, with 6 volunteers and 5 residents (inside men) currently committed to the circle. Our volunteer team is highly motivated and is working hard to overcome some logistical and communication challenges at the prison that have hindered attendance. We may have recently cracked the code by arranging for a showing of The Work documentary to the broader resident community, after which the number of men participating more than doubled. If this trend continues, we will look to expand to a second circle in 2023.
Northeast Correctional Center (NECC)
In July, we launched a new Jericho Circle chapter at the Northeast Correctional Center (NECC, aka “Concord Farm”), a MA DOC minimum security / pre-release facility. A team of 5 volunteers, led by Vern Ludwig, has run weekly circles there each Monday, and two full cycles have been completed to date. Attendance has been a major challenge, due to the short tenure of the inside men, but the team is working on strategies to recruit new participants (including a planned showing of The Work).
MCI-Framingham (Women’s Prison)
In 2021 the MA DOC indicated an interest in expanding Jericho Circle’s work to MCI-Framingham, the state women’s prison. Under the leadership of Louise DeIasi, a team of 15 women volunteers are currently onboarding and will begin a 4-week training program in December to prepare for going inside. We anticipate the launch of this program in Q1 of 2023.
Outside Intensives
We held three outside intensives for our volunteers and returning citizens – one virtual (January) and two in-person (April and October). All three events were well-attended, with an average of 25 participants per event, and served to deepen connections and develop leadership and facilitation competency.
We are planning three more outside volunteer training weekends in 2023:
January 20-22 in Portland, Maine (register at http://jerichocircle.org/intensive)
May 5-7 (location TBD)
October 13-15 (location TBD)
2023 Expansion to New Institutions
Jericho Circle currently has three regional launch teams preparing for future expansion:
Portland, Maine (led by Jon Courtney & Noah Bragg)
Western Massachusetts / Connecticut (led by Gary Einsidler)
New Hampshire (led by Richard Hubbard)
Please submit your information at http://jerichocircle.org/apply if you would like to help start a prison or reentry circle in these areas (or start a launch team elsewhere!)