Steve has been a volunteer with The BRIDGE Prison Ministry’s Wednesday night group for ex-offenders for about two years. “I’m a local resident and I wanted to find a way to give back to my community. Being a volunteer is important in both my personal and professional life. Volunteering with The BRIDGE has been an incredibly humbling experience, too. Although I haven’t had the same life experiences, I have similar thoughts and feelings to those being expressed by other members of the group. I feel like I get a lot more out of coming here than I give back. These Wednesday night sessions are very important to me. I see my friends, my family.”

Merrill has been “outside” for only a few months. He credits The BRIDGE with helping him get used to life after being released from prison. “We talked about values when I was at OCI (the Ontario Correctional Institution) but I realize it’s a lot harder on the outside. The BRIDGE helped me find a place to live and helped me to find employment two weeks after I got out. A few weeks ago I had a bit of a relapse. I placed a call to The BRIDGE and within 15 minutes they had gotten back to me. Without that support, I would have been in real trouble. The BRIDGE shows be options that I didn’t know that I had. Here I have friends, people who care about me. I need The BRIDGE. This is where I need to be now. This is what I need to be doing. I appreciate all that The BRIDGE has done for me.”

“Coming here helps me face my fears.” Stewart credits The BRIDGE with helping him to build his self-esteem and sense of self-worth. “When I got out of OCI (the Ontario Correctional Institution), I had no idea how I was going to cope. Garry (Glowacki, Executive Director) and Mark (The Rev. Mark Stephen, Community Worker) helped me to see that thing were going to be okay. They helped me find work and helped me move into my apartment.” Stewart told me that originally he was surprised that anyone would go out of their way to help someone like him. “The BRIDGE is a community of caring, respect, and unconditional love. Not being judged really means a lot to me. I know that I have someone to call if I ever find myself close to reoffending.” Stewart hopes that one day he will be able to reconnect with his family. “I want to make amends and normalize those relationships. It could happen for me because it has happened for others. I want to become happy and content and this group helps me to see that it is possible. The other guys share their struggles, but they are happy.”

“I’ve been coming to The BRIDGE for over 8 years. I come for the fellowship, the openness, and the trust. In the beginning, I had a couple of relapses and shame kept me from asking for help. But I have learned that I can share my experiences with others who have been there and, hopefully, I will be able to help others as I have been helped over the years. I’ve got myself a two-bedroom apartment and I rent a room to other guys from The BRIDGE. I’ve reconnected with my family and friends. They know that I come here and they support me. They check in on me to see how I’m doing.”