Published: January 14, 2008 04:46 pm            

The Seed Planters

Project focuses on keeping inmates from returning to jail

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Those who have overcome great obstacles often say it took a wake up call to turn their life around. For Gary Vidor, it felt more like God shaking him by the shoulders.

Vidor built a successful life in Traverse City. Through a 12-step program he had already faced up to the alcohol and drug addictions that controlled his youth, but his life hit a rough spot in 2002, and through a series of family events he was introduced to Jesus Christ. Philosophically he sees it as the time when his life finally started coming together.

“During that time a new seed was planted in me. God was telling me I was supposed to help men in the prison system find their faith,” Vidor said. He didn’t know how to react. “I was afraid to tell anyone, but God said this is what you’re going to do, and it completely changed my life — totally messed me up.”

The thoughts stayed, and Vidor knows now it was more than coincidence when he met Joe Brooks while attending a men’s study group at First Congregational Church three years later. In 2005, the two men partnered to create Project Unity for Life, a faith-based community ministry with the goal of closing the revolving door of incarceration.

“The group was just completing a study of (Pastor Rick Warren’s book) ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ and we were at the point where we were asking what do we do with this,” Brooks said. “Some fellows wanted to work with youth. Gary told of his vision of wanting to help people get out of jails. I wanted to work with small groups in goal setting.”



Reaching Out

What evolved that Christmas was an outreach to four transitional houses in Traverse City for men released from prison. The effort drew such a response they knew they had hit on something and decided to build on that outreach.

”There was a guy in every house crying because somebody cared about them, and it was overwhelming for us, “Vidor said. “We said whoa, there’s some hurting people in these places, and we figured we could make a difference.”

Both Vidor and Brooks knew they needed to structure a program, and both had set up corporations before, but this was a whole different product. They also knew they were stepping into areas that had liability, not only from what the outreach was, but also from a family standpoint.

“We knew this could be draining,” Vidor said. “It could be a personally consuming business, and we found out that it wasn’t that popular.”

The two quickly realized that those in incarceration who are released into society to build a new life aren’t considered to be the best people.

“Basically you have people who have stolen, who have disrespected property, people who have injured people and disrespected genders and authority, and people just don’t have the tolerance to have them living next door,” Vidor said.

Their research surprised them even more. They discovered that some 67 percent of those who were incarcerated were there for nonviolent drug and alcohol-related crime.

“We’re not advocates for condoning crime in any way, but there’s a certain percentage of people in the system who have the ability to be reintroduced into society,” said Vidor. “They have a mark on their backs right off the bat, but that was the challenge. People thought it was a good idea but they doubted that it would work.”

In 2005, the late Chaplain Bob Hall told them the Grand Traverse County Jail processed nearly 12,000 bookings and releases that year. That’s not housing, but processing in and out of the jail, Vidor said.

They went one step further to find out that, at that time, there were over 55,000 men in the 43 Michigan prisons. After searching Michigan Department of Corrections Web sites they realized there were nearly 70,000 people incarcerated in county and state institutions.

“Not only were we directed by God to help these people. This was larger than we anticipated,” Vidor said. Continued research found very few programs offering a manageable, simplistic approach to the recovery process.

They located the program, “Transformation Project,” in Chattanooga, Tenn., led by Pastor Wayne Keylon. He offered some curriculum sources, and once they put their model in place, Vidor and Brooks partnered with Grace Episcopal Church for space, began training volunteers and dragged the streets from the jail to the transition houses to the homeless shelters. They launched their first support group, Insight, for men recently freed from incarceration.

The unique thing about Project Unity for Life is that volunteers all go through the same training as the original four.

“You need to clean up your own heart and determine if you’re the type of person that can handle the burden that comes with dealing with such tragic situations,” Vidor said. “Success is having the credibility of taking yourself apart and healing yourself and that really gets transmitted to the individuals we’re talking to, and they know that.”

“We’re talking about people who have gone through the experience of peeling their own onion,” said Brooks who also dealt with an addiction during a period of time in his life.



Christian Supported

They describe Project Unity for Life as a para-church — a non-denominational community ministry set aside from any church or denomination. They also stress that they are not counselors or therapists. They coach from experience.

The materials are biblically supported.

“Our foundation is traditional Christianity. We understand that the doorway to faith isn’t always the same so we can have all sorts of people who are all over the board with their faith,” Vidor said. “But if you need help, we’ll show you how we solved our problems through that faith element.”

Quickly outgrowing the room at Grace Episcopal Church, the ministry moved to larger donated space on Hastings in Traverse City where they estimate they put some 200 men and women through their recovery program between May 2006 and October 2007. At the end of October they lost that space, but it was replaced by an anonymous donor.

Vidor proudly surveys the office suite that he and Brooks now refer to as the World Headquarters for Project Unity for Life, occupying the entire second floor of 900 East Front St.



Going to the People

The additional space should support the project’s growth, though Project Unity for Life had already expanded its presence by developing a relationship with Pugsley Correctional Facility in Kingsley through Warden Thomas Phillips and Chaplain David Bassett.

In a pilot inreach program inside Pugsley, which began in December 2006, a team of four men have held weekly sessions for the last 56 weeks for prisoners desiring to learn new life skills through biblical faith.

“It’s very new for the Department of Corrections to allow the community to be part of the solution,” Vidor said.

The program also has been working in the Leelanau County Jail, and Jail Administrator Cheryl King has high praises.

“It’s just amazing what they’re doing,” King said. ”The people who come in relate to the population very well. They don’t preach, and that makes a difference to a person who is incarcerated.”

King estimates that between 15 and 20 inmates regularly attend the weekly sessions, which is about half the jail’s population.

“We have state and federally funded programs. They come and they go, but this little nonprofit with their hearts of gold have accomplished things that the others couldn’t,” she said. “In the past corrections have used the words ‘rehabilitation’ or ‘restorative justice,’ but now the new buzz word is ‘re-entry’ because these people will be re-entering society and they will need help. Project Unity for Life realizes there is very little in the way of a support system when they get out.”

Since the jail often has extra space, King said prisoners from Wexford and Ogemaw counties often are housed there. If there isn’t a support system in those counties, prisoners re-entering the communities can fall through the cracks.



Expanding Reach

It’s a fact Project Unity for Life already is addressing. They have been asked to join a team under the Michigan Prison Re-Entry Initiative, a state program providing after care services to parolees. Currently Vidor and Brooks are working on certification through Prison Fellowship in order to establish a program that will train facilitators and mentors to staff parolee support groups in counties across northern Michigan.

They have also added their own pastor. Chaplain Bob Wilson, an ordained minister who ran an outreach program for drug rehabilitation in California, recently came onboard.

Future goals are to establish a five-month program where men on probation could work for room and board, participate in the overall community of healing while working with family reunification, then transition into a new life. The intent is to create a model that can easily be duplicated worldwide.

The plans are huge, but they’re determined to make it.

“We’ve given up our careers and lives for this,” Vidor said. “But this is a divine appointment. It couldn’t be done without prayer, and it’s not something that two guys sat down and drew up.”

Vidor knows that disbelief and doubt are the biggest factors people face in turning their lives around. People need to want to change.

“We don’t have a lot of time for people who just want to use the system,” Brooks said. “They have to be willing to change before they can grow the seeds of success.”

And for some, success is just staying out of jail.

“If we can keep them out, everything else falls into place,” Vidor says. “In this business, you’re a seed planter.”

Project Unity for Life offers assistance in restoring a positive life direction through relationship building, small groups and mentoring programs. They can be reached at 929-4446 or by visiting www.projectunityforlife.com.



Gretch Murray writes for the Traverse City (Mich.) Record Eagle.

        

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