2022 Assembly Reports:
View reports for our 2022 assembly on our assembly report page and in this collection of blog posts.

Inside Out Network, new to our synod, shares their 2022 assembly report with two stories—one long and winding, and one short and sweet—both in the same Spirit.

The Inside Out Network

Two Stories – Same Spirit

We’re excited to introduce ourselves! Since you probably haven’t ever heard of us before now, we want to share two stories—one long and winding, and one short and sweet—about who we are what God’s been up to in and through us.

We’re the Inside Out Network, a nonprofit birthed in Chicago and now based in Tucson. We’ve engaged deeply and broadly across the spectrum of prison and reentry work for the past 16 years, and the Spirit has taken us on a winding, unpredictable path to get to where we are today. We began in 2006 at an ELCA church in Park Ridge, IL, as a church-based ministry called “Under the Door,” going cell-to-cell at the intake unit in a large Illinois prison to distribute books and pray with inmates. Seeing an unmet need for a practical spiritual guide for inmates, our executive director, Pastor Fred Nelson, wrote and published a book, Spiritual Survival Guide for Prison and Beyond, in 2012, with generous grant support from the Metro Chicago Synod. The book is now in its second edition, and over 60,000 copies have been distributed to inmates free of charge. This resource led to a pen pal ministry and increasing numbers of men connecting to our church after release, which led, in turn, to frontline reentry work. This, then, led us to respond to another unmet need by developing a practical reentry guide for the Chicago area. In 2015, we created RED [ReEntry Directory] Chicago and partnered with over 25 churches that helped by printing copies of the guide for us. The success of this guide led to a new partnership (and opportunity) with the Illinois Dept. of Corrections in 2017, working to address yet another unmet need, an online reentry platform for the entire state.

Five years later, we now find ourselves helping reshape reentry for people leaving incarceration with our ground-breaking, invisibility-busting online platform that allows returning citizens and service providers to see and be seen and to communicate directly with each other. Think of us as "eHarmony for reentry." ION makes it easy for both returning citizens and service providers to search, find relevant matches, connect with, and even reach out proactively and message each other on our platform—beginning pre-release. Our platform empowers men and women to take charge of their reentry experience by seeking and finding the help they both need and want. We’ve already forged partnerships with departments of corrections and launched the ION platform across the states of Arizona and Illinois, and we’re negotiating to expand to several more. System-wide, we currently have over 3,300 returning citizens and 350 service providers registered and active, with more added daily.

That’s the long and winding story...and it’s not done yet.

Now for the short and sweet one. It’s a snapshot of a personal breakthrough moment that happened during online user testing we were conducting at the Eagle Point Unit in the Buckeye, AZ, prison complex several months ago.

We were looking to directly observe (via Zoom) the initial use of the ION platform by staff and inmates to discover how both sets of users actually use the site in a prison environment. We wanted to better understand users’ assumptions, needs, concerns, and suggestions, to show what changes we might make to improve their experience. The user testing was conducted by Fred Nelson, our executive director. Here's how he describes what happened...

After we’d done the testing with three other inmates, it was Melvin's turn (not his real name). Melvin was clearly uncomfortable and barely communicative. It didn't appear that he wanted to participate or actually look for help with his reentry. We soon discovered why. He was very slow and halting on the computer keyboard. He was taking at least twice as long as the others had. He was clearly embarrassed in front of his peers and the staff. He was slumping in his chair and complaining and wanting to back out—after just four short registration questions. We assured him that he was doing fine and encouraged him to go at his own pace.

Eventually, sometimes painfully, he did complete his registration, and then moved on to do some initial searches for service providers. But, through it all, he continued to give off the vibe that he was uninterested, unmotivated, and ready to quit. It felt for all the world like a "bad fit."

As our time wound down, I asked Melvin to do two quick things. I asked if he would simply log off and then log back on again, using his username and password, so that he would be able to come back and use ION again in the future if he ever wanted to. I then just went quiet and watched what Melvin did next. He looked around at the site, logged off, and then entered his username and password and logged back on. And then, when his dashboard popped up with the greeting, "Welcome, Melvin," something powerful happened. Melvin sat straight up in his seat, broke into a huge grin, and announced to everyone, "Gentlemen, welcome to the newest member of the Geek Squad!" The place erupted with laughter...and Melvin was a different man.

What happened? Melvin had a breakthrough. He broke through his embarrassment. He broke through his negative self-judgment. He discovered his own competence. In twenty short minutes, he grew in the confidence that he could, in fact, learn and help himself. He no longer belonged to the company of those who couldn't. He now belonged to the geek squad, the smart, the capable, the savvy. He’d been stirred up in the Spirit. The smile on Melvin's face and the self-confidence in his own spirit as he sat looking at that welcome screen is what real empowerment looks like. And that's exactly what we want countless thousands of Melvins to experience for themselves.

And if, while reading this, you feel yourself being stirred up in the Spirit to explore getting yourself or your congregation involved in empowering and welcoming home Melvin and his friends, just let us know. This may be your own breakthrough moment, and your own long and winding story in prison and reentry ministry may just be getting started!

Let’s connect!

Contact: Pastor Fred Nelson, Executive Director

Phone: 847-323-3774

Email: fred@insideoutnetwork.net

Website: https://insideoutnetwork.net/overview

Online Donation page: https://secure.myvanco.com/YGKR/campaign/C-YGXA