Workshop on volunteering in prisons set for April 28

CONCORD — Five experts will answer questions about volunteering in prisons at a workshop entitled “Just Visiting.” The free program runs from 12:30-3 p.m. on April 28 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Concord. People have many questions about volunteering in jails and prisons, including: How do you begin? What are the risks in helping prisoners keep their sanity and religious faith? What do you say to immigrants fighting deportation in a county jail? Why are people of color far more likely to go to jail than whites? This workshop will address these questions and more.

Maggie Fogarty of the American Friends Service Committee will describe issues related to immigrant detention and the work of the New Hampshire Immigrant Visitation Program at the Strafford County Jail in Dover. She will also share opportunities to provide support for detained persons, including as volunteer visitors. Atty. Ron Abramson of Manchester represents clients fighting deportation. He will explain how to help these people too.

R.N. Van Wickler and Erica Nye of Cheshire County Jail, Kara Wyman of Merrimack County Jail, and Keith Gray and Tamara McGonagle of Belknap County Jail will recruit volunteers to work with men and women under similar stress.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the New Hampshire Council of Churches and the Reconciliation Commission and the Prison Concerns Committee of the New Hampshire Episcopal Diocese.