Out of Hiding, by Rev. Jeff Grant - Successful Resolution of Our Lead Case on Behalf of an Innocent Spouse & Children

Progressive Prison Project 

Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Greenwich, Connecticut

Out of Hiding: 
Successful Resolution of Our Lead Case 
on Behalf of an Innocent Spouse & Children

by, Rev. Jeff Grant
  
The Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project announces the successful resolution of our lead case - we believe this is the first time in United States history that an innocent spouse has been compensated after her personal assets have been frozen by the government (together with her husband’s assets when he was the defendant in a financial crimes case)
  

Preliminary Statement, 
Press Release & Prayers

_______________ 

Preliminary Statement

The hiding place at 263 Prinsengracht 
is relatively spacious… 

“Mr. Kugler thought it would be better to have 
a bookcase built in front of the entrance to our hiding place.” 

Anne writes this in her diary on August 21, 1942…

-AnneFrank.org
 

There are innocent mothers and children suffering in silence in this country.  In hiding places you are least likely to suspect.  Their family names have been blazoned across headlines.  Their children have been taunted, ridiculed and bullied at school.  Their friends have abandoned them.  They are whispered about, pointed at and disdained.  They have been shunned in their churches, synagogues, and civic organizations.  They cannot afford to feed themselves without food stamps, or to heat their homes without state aid.  They sit inside with the blinds and curtains drawn - waiting for the day their homes will be sold out from under them. 

What great sin did these mothers and children commit that we should treat them in such a manner?  They dared to be the first victims of husbands and fathers who were convicted for white-collar crimes.  In the United States, in 2014, this is a Scarlet Letter of the worst kind.  We should be ashamed of ourselves. - Jeff Grant

_______________

Press Release

June 5, 2014, Greenwich, CT: The Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project is pleased to announce the successful resolution of our lead case on behalf of an innocent spouse and her children, in achieving for them compensation, and the return of assets, from the U.S. Receiver.  We believe this is the first time in United States history, that an innocent spouse has been compensated after her personal assets had been frozen by the government (together with her husband’s assets when he was the defendant in a financial crimes case).  All compensation recovered for the innocent spouse was strictly from her personal assets that had been frozen, and not from any assets of her husband's that are to be apportioned to other victims of his crimes.  According to Rev. Jeff Grant, Director, "This is not only a life-changing event in the life of this family, it is a milestone in our mission for this unique class of victims - innocent spouses and children of people convicted of white-collar and nonviolent crimes," according to Rev. Jeff Grant, the Project's Director."

[The names and details of the family are being withheld to protect the minor children.]

Loyal readers of our blog, and those of you who have attended our sermons or talks, know that we have been diligently pursuing the rights of innocent spouses and their children in financial crimes matters where the government has asserted overreaching asset freezes, leaving them without means of support or access to counsel.

The Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project has served as ministers to these spouses and children, and as team leaders - assembling compassionate ministers, advocates, lawyers and other professionals to provide them spiritual comfort and support, and advocate for their rights. 

 “This woman and her children represent a new class of victims – mothers and children who are deserted by people convicted of white-collar crimes who go off to prison leaving them without sufficient means to survive, and a system that has historically deprived them of their assets and, in so doing, access to counsel.” 
 - Rev. Jeff Grant, Minister/Director, Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project

“She came to us hopeless; she and her children were penniless and on the verge of homelessness.” “We are thrilled that through this resolution the end of this type of injustice is in sight for all innocent spouses and children.” 
 - Lynn Springer, Founding Advocate, Innocent Spouse & Children Project.

“After months of negotiations, we were able to achieve this resolution on behalf of this woman and her children only after it became absolutely clear that they would be receiving compensation from the sale of her personal assets that had been wrongly frozen, and not from the sale of any other assets.”  “It has been an honor to be of service to her, her children and all innocent spouses and children in this class of victims suffering in silence.”  
- George F. Hritz, Esq., Lead Counsel.

About the Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project, Greenwich, CT: Religious and Spiritual support of families and community members affected by inner-city, white collar and nonviolent incarceration issues. “The First Ministries in the United States created to support the Families of people accused or convicted of white collar and other nonviolent crimes." 

For more information please visit: prisonist.org.

_____________________

 Prayers

> Gracious God, The world is full of broken people searching for wholeness and unity. We thank you for the Innocent Spouse and Children Project, that seeks to provide justice for those affected by the criminal actions of others. Help us all to have compassion for all people, whether innocent or guilty. Help us to remember that our own brokenness can be made whole through your love and redemption; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.  
- The Reverend Sam Owen is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of New York, and is the priest in charge of the Haitian Congregation of the Good Samaritan in the Bronx, NY.
 

> And God accepted Job’s prayer and God blessed Job’s later life even more than his earlier life. (Message)

Precious Presence: in your Holy Name we come, YOU who brings us together from different places  and with diverse needs. Some of us are confused and concerned: worried that our yesterdays and the decisions we made in days gone by will affect our tomorrows.

Some of us are weary: worn and sad that it seems as if no one cares about us and what will happen to us. Especially those we love who are still depending on us. In these times we wonder: who can we turn to, who can we lean on, who will help us? God, thank you for your word to us, your word that reminds us of your “never ending”, “always faithful”, “with us even to the end of time”, that we can trust. How you super rule and over rule any situation that would turn the bright day of hope into the darkest despair.

Eternally Faithful Spirit, we lift up to you those who need to know the God of a Second Chance, those who need to know the One who looks beyond our faults and sees our needs, the One who never leaves us alone, no never alone, but who, even when we walk in paths that leads away from You, comforts us with the Blessed Assurance that You are still with us, through it all.

Ever-Loving God, we are confident that you hear our prayers, still we ask you to help us to experience now what it is like to be given a second chance, the opportunity to be restored, renewed, and refreshed by You. And may this 2^nd chance, or is a a 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th, thank you God for not keeping count but may this chance transform our hearts and our lives so that we might live faithfully for you. We ask this in your Eternal Name. Amen.    
- Rev. Dr. Bernard R. Wilson serves as the Senior Minister of the Norfield Congregational Church, Weston, CT
 

> Father, Mother, God, Thank you for your presence during the hard and mean days. For then we have you to lean upon.
Thank you for your presence during the bright and sunny days, for then we can share that which we have with those who have less. And thank you for your presence during the Holy Days, for then we are able to celebrate you and our families and our friends. For those who have no voice, we ask you to speak. For those who feel unworthy, we ask you to pour your love out in waterfalls of tenderness. For those who live in pain, we ask you to bathe them in the river of your healing. For those who are lonely, we ask you to keep them company. For those who are depressed, we ask you to shower upon them the light of hope.

Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of substance, we ask you to give to all the world that which we need most—Peace.
- Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014), American poet, author, dancer, and singer.

_____________________

We would like to thank the following professionals and organizations for their service (among the many others who have generously given of their time and spirit):

Lynn Springer, Founding Advocate, Innocent Spouse & Children Project, Greenwich, CT

George F. Hritz, Esq., Lead Counsel, New York, NY

Marion Bachrach, Esq., Thompson & Knight, White-Collar Counsel, New York, NY

George Catlett, Esq., Local Counsel, Stamford, CT

Eric Posmantier, Esq., The Law Offices of Eric Posmantier, Family Law, Ridgefield, CT,  Greenwich, CT

Duane Berlin, Esq., Lev & Berlin, Corporate Law, Norwalk, CT

Joseph Deltito, M.D., Greenwich, CT

Rev. Hopeton Scott, First Baptist Church of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, CT

Rev. Jim Lemler, Christ Church Greenwich, Greenwich, CT

Rev. Jennifer Owen, Christ Church Greenwich, Greenwich, CT 

_____________________

Progressive Prison Project/
Innocent Spouse & Children Project

at Christ Church Greenwich 254 East Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, Conecticut 06830

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1232, Weston, Connecticut 06883

Central Ministry & Office: Weston, Connecticut

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Minister/Director
(o) +1203.769.1096

(m) +1203.339.5887
jgrant@prisonist.org
jg3074@columbia.edu

Lynn Springer, Advocate, Innocent Spouses & Children
lspringer@prisonist.org
(m) +1203.536.5508

George Bresnan, Advocate
gbresnan@prisonist.org

Please feel free to contact us if we can be of service to you, a friend or family member - we will promptly send you an information package by mail, email or Dropbox. 

To RM, PM & TD, three fine men who sent me off &

picked me up seven years ago this morning -  

a special, personal thank you and blessing.  Jeff

_____________________

Comments from Linked In:

This is a great achievement. Weldon sir, how I wish I can do the same to my fellow inmates here in Nigeria
By Hezekiah Olujobi 

 

On That Day, a sermon by Hopeton Scott, Senior Reverend of the First Baptist Church of Bridgeport CT

Progressive Prison Project

Innocent Spouse & Children Project 

Greenwich, Connecticut

"On That Day"

A sermon by

Pastor Hopeton Scott

 Pastor Scott is the Senior Reverend

of The First Baptist Church of Bridgeport

126 Washington Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut 06604.

It is a home church of our Prison Ministries.

                                                                                                                                                                 

December 8, 2013

“On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10.

In our bulletin there are two images. 

 

We have had them appearing in the bulletins for several weeks now. They are images that are also in the each set of stained glass windows in our Sanctuary. They are the Greek letters - Alpha and omega, the first and the last letters in the Greek alphabet. And they have come to symbolize for us the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

As we came to the end of the Christian year last month and now launch into the new Christian calendar, we are reminded that God is at the beginning and at the end of all things. Jesus is indeed referred to as the “Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end” in the Book of Revelation. (Revelation 1:10)  We are reminded that God is beyond time and seasons and space but that God has chosen to be active in the arena of human history.

Advent is a time to remember that we are living in the last days. We are in the ‘in between times’, the time after the first Advent and before the final Advent, when God’s work will find its culmination, its glorious conclusion.   So in Advent we say: “Jesus has come, Jesus is coming, and Jesus will come again!”

This is a time of waiting, of expectancy, a time of preparation. This is a period of hope, of looking for the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation, of the restoration God’s creation.

The Bible, both Hebrew and Christian scriptures, is filled with diverse and wonderful images of the end, of the culmination of God's purpose. Some of the most vivid pictures are in the Book of Revelation, but at the start and at the end of the Christian calendar, we are presented with that richness of Biblical images as we rehearse the pageantry of the salvation history.

Our Scripture reading today from Isaiah is one such passage. Isaiah paints a picture of the end, of the end times. There is indeed an image of judgment, of the defeat of evil but the dominant theme is of reconciliation and peace and wholeness....”The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion will feed together, and a little child will lead them.”  Isaiah 11: 6

Most Wednesdays, Minister Jeff Grant and I meet for conversation to catch up on the ministry and projects in which he is engaged. We review our work and often talk shop and share theological reflections. In our conversation this past week, we talked about wholeness. Jeff asked me whether wholeness was a goal for individuals or for the community as a whole. My response was that God’s goal is wholeness for both the individual and for the entire world. The goal is wholeness, a translation of the Hebrew word, ‘Shalom’. It means: integration, well- being, alignment, harmony, fulfillment, completeness.

At personal level, there is a need for the body and the spirit to be in harmony; we need to be at peace with ourselves; we need to experience the absence of inner turmoil, a lack of anxiety, no restlessness and no dis-ease.

In the New Testament Story of Legion, we find the story and the healing of a person who was fractured, who was ‘many’. We want to dismiss him as a mad man, a crazy person, a paranoid schizophrenic. But we are all like Legion. He is a symbol of humanity.  We are fractured; we are multiple personalities; we are disjointed,  out of alignment. When Legion encounters Jesus, the miracle that Jesus performs leaves him 'clothed and in right mind'; he is now ‘dressed up in Jesus Christ’ and integrated - at peace, with a proper alignment of body and spirit. Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39

This is what God intends for you, for all of us –“to be clothed and in our right minds”. Our spirit and your mind need to be in harmony. We need to experience “shalom”, peace, completeness, wholeness.

Minister Jeff and I also spoke as well of wholeness in community. Image of integration in the created order is embedded in the pictures of Biblical wholeness, of the end time.

Peace is not merely the absence of violence and fear, but the sense of oneness. God’s goal is an inclusive community where none is excluded, where everyone is valued. God’s Shalom envisions a time when all persons regardless of gender, race, nationality, wealth or poverty, disability or ability or other classifications are treated equally and are embraced in the community.

You see, conflicts arise because we are focused on securing our own rights instead of seeking the common good. In our disjointed state we want to be in control and we want preferential treatment for ourselves and for our kind. We wish to inflate our position at the expense of others.

The evils of apartheid and Jim Crow, racism and bullying have their roots in the desire of individuals wanting to suppress others. Our insecurities lead us to engage on behaviors that deny others their humanity and lead us to use violence to get our own way. We cannot see the divine in others and so we deny them and ourselves the wholeness God grants to all. We forget that all of us are made in the image of God and we refuse to see the face of God in each other. The inclusive community however has the ingredients of mutual respect and empathy. It is built on love and patience and tolerance.

“On that day, the root of Jesse will stand as a signal to the peoples. The nations will seek him out, and his dwelling will be glorious.”  They won’t harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain. The earth will surely be filled with the knowledge of God as the water covers the sea.” Isaiah 11:10, 9.

I also had a very stimulating conversation with the visitor we had in church last week. She had the perennial question that most of us have: “Why do I suffer when others lead successful lives, others who are less religious?”  It is the question that generations of believers have struggled with. It is the question that the Book of Job tries to answer.

My answer to our guest was that we are out of alignment. Sadly our focus, even in the church, has been on the material rather than the spiritual. We have forgotten that we are both spirit and material and our primary concerns have been about the transient and temporary things of our existence.

So we are concerned about how much money we have. Whether we have the latest gadgets or wear the trendiest fashions or meet the prevailing ideas about image and appearance. We have forgotten that the material things are only for a time; they fade, they wither; they lose their luster their cache; they grow old

I might wait outside an Apple store for the latest smart phone, but in a couple of years, that phone will be passé and I will need to upgrade again! The temporary and the ephemeral things of this year cannot satisfy our hunger for meaning and wholeness. We build our lives on the sand when our emphasis is on the material.

No matter how much we accumulate in this world, we will have to leave it behind when the spirit leaves the body. Our focus then should be on the eternal, on the spiritual because that continues even after our physical passing, after we turn to dust. Will my spirit be deformed, be diminished, be small after the material is no more? Will I have spiritual poverty and lack completeness?

This is not to say that our suffering, our pain, our heartaches, our lack of resources are not important. The miracles Jesus did and continues to do in the church demonstrate that our quality of living in of concern to the creator God. Jesus healed the sick. He fed the hungry. He relieved anxious minds. He helped those in emotional distress.

But he says to all: "Seek first the kingdom of God and it's righteousness and all these things will be added to you." Our primary desire should be spiritual. When we are in that place where we are at one with God and with ourselves, clothed and in our right minds, we are in a position to address our material needs. We will find that it is not the end of the world if we do not have the latest gadgets and wear the trendiest fashions. We will find that there are resources to help us meet our basic needs of food and shelter. We will find that that there are persons who love us just as we are. We will find that there are shoulders that we can cry on. We will find that we can find comfort from others around us. We will find that we are not alone in our pain and in our grief!

When our focus is on the spiritual, on the eternal, we can understand Paul saying that the kingdom of God is more than meat and drink, it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

All week I have been haunted by a song by Michael Jackson. 

                   Don’t know how it fits into this sermon, but here it goes:                 

 "Man In The Mirror"

I'm Gonna Make A Change, For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good, Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right . . .

As I, Turn Up The Collar On My Favorite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin' My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street, With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See Their Needs
A Summer's Disregard, A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man's Soul
They Follow Each Other On The Wind Ya' Know
'Cause They Got Nowhere To Go
That's Why I Want You To Know
I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
(If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place)
Take A Look At Yourself, And

Then Make A Change

Change can come to us. Transformation can be ours if we re-order our priorities. Shalom is our destiny. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!” On that day it won't be my possessions but the vitality of my spirit. How integrated will I be? How at peace will I be with God and with myself? How at one will I be with the created order? How I unencumbered will I be from self-centeredness, from hate, from prejudice, from greed, from the material things of life? Will I be clothed and in my right mind?

Nelson Mandela is a wonderful example of the triumph of the spirit over the material. Imprisoned for almost thirty years he never gave up hope. He longed to see a day when oppression would cease in South Africa. He suffered all kinds of indignities but yet he grew to love those who oppressed him. He forgave his enemies. He forsook revenge and chose the path of reconciliation. Today he is being remembered as a giant, as one who changed the course of human history.

What of us? Where is your focus? What is most important to you? In this season of waiting of expectation, how will that day find you?

God is working His purpose out
As year succeeds to year;
God is working his purpose out,
And the time is drawing near;
Nearer and nearer draws the time,
The time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled
With the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.

What can we do to work God’s work,
To prosper and increase
The brotherhood of all mankind,
The reign of the Prince of Peace?
What can we do to hasten the time,
The time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled
With the glory of God
As the waters cover the sea.  

 Amen.

_________________

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div
Director, Progressive Prison Project/
Innocent Spouse & Children Project 

Christ Church Greenwich

254 East Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, Connecticut, USA 06830

Assoc. Minister/
Director of Prison Ministries
First Baptist Church of Bridgeport
126 Washington Avenue, 1st Fl.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA  06604

 

(0) +1203.769.1096 

(m) +1203.339.5887

jgrant@progressiveprisonproject.org
jg3074@columbia.edu 

progressiveprisonproject.org

It Takes A Town (or Two). By Jeff Grant

Progressive Prison Project

Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Greenwich, Connecticut

It Takes A Town 

(or tw0)

By Jeff Grant 

I admit it.  I prejudged things. 

My wife Lynn & I had a dream of building new forms of prison ministry to bring diverse and suffering communities together - and model them first in Bridgeport and Greenwich, Connecticut.  

After all, they are the most disparate socio-economic same-county communities in the country. 

In theory, it seemed simple: I was a white guy living in Greenwich, who had gone to prison for a white collar crime, who had gone on to Union Theological Seminary, who was now called to be a prison minister, in a black Baptist church in the 'hood in Bridgeport.  Simple?

Here's where I prejudged things:  I figured that the folks in Bridgeport would like the concept - but that the folks in Greenwich would never buy-in to this plan.  I was only half right.  The Bridgeport faith community did embrace this concept in new and unprecedented ways - but so did the faith community in Greenwich.  But, like all good things, it all came in God's time. 

A couple of years ago, I first met with Rev. Jim Lemler, the Rector at Christ Church Greenwich.  Despite being the largest church in Greenwich, Christ Church is also known for it's incredible hospitality - it hosts recovery meetings every day of the week, is the site of the nationally acclaimed "Courage & Faith" speaker program, and provides outreach funding and services all over the world.  

Jim was interested in our new ministry from the start, and saw that perhaps we might evolve into becoming a good fit for the church.  After a series of meetings over the next couple of years in which Jim did see our ministries grow and evolve, he assigned us to the exceptional Rev. Jenny Owen (Jenny runs the Youth Ministry at Christ Church Greenwich and does a whole lot more - a dynamo!).  Jenny worked with the church's new Outreach Commission and discussed with us how we might best be of service to congregation and community.  

A few days ago we posted a blog by my wife Lynn announcing that Christ Church Greenwich has made a second home for our new form of prison ministries (in addition to our first home at the First Baptist Church of Bridgeport with our mentor Rev. Hopeton Scott).  We are deeply grateful to all!

I want to take a moment to celebrate this moment in the history of the Greenwich faith community (if it's not immediately apparent) - this is not just another case of a church in a wealthy town sponsoring an outreach program by sending money or a busload of volunteers off to some other part of the world (efforts we applaud, by the way).  This is an "in-reach" ministry!  By this act of great compassion and empathy, Christ Church Greenwich has reached out its arms and wrapped them around its own suffering neighbors and invited them into its midst.  This is an act of true humility and kindness - the sheep and the goats.  It is we who are awestruck and humbled to be a part of this God-filled moment.  On behalf of all who now will be seen in a different way, and helped with more dignity - thank you.

To this end, Christ Church Greenwich has also invited me to preach during this winter/spring and to give a"10:10" talk that morning between the services - it should be a wonderful opportunity to get to know the congregation and community better and to discuss our ministries in a comfortable setting.

  

I do want to discuss yet other blessing from Greenwich:  

Earlier in the year, our ministries came to the attention of Rev. David Miller.  David is the Director of the Princeton University Faith & Business Initiative - and is the Host of the Greenwich Leadership Forum.  GLF is a monthly meeting of businesspersons dedicated to ethical business practices. David contacted us and asked if would I would be interviewed by him at an upcoming meeting of GLF.  

GLF meeting & interview details: Dec. 13th, 7 am (6:30 am for breakfast) at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Steamboat Road (right off Exit 3), Greenwich, Connecticut.  It is hard to express our deep gratitude for this opportunity to share our experience in the company of such good, dedicated people.  Please join us and experience what this important group is doing to help model appropriate and faithful business attitude & behavior. 

Greenwich and Bridgeport are not so far away from each other.  Now, just maybe, they are one small step closer.  Please feel free to comment or drop me a line - it's among my very favorite topics. 

P.S. Walt Pavlo wrote an article this week for Forbes about our ministries:  Starting a Discussion on White Collar Crime and Recovery.  I want to take this opportunity to say a few words about Walt.  He is a reporter on the national white-collar crime scene who consistently writes evenhanded human stories about the brokenness and suffering that goes on in people's lives, and about the redemption that can happen on the other side - that is, the truth.  He never opts for the easy way out or for sensationalism.  For these reasons I suggest you closely follow Walt's columns for Forbes.

Blessings, 

Jeff
 

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div
Director, Progressive Prison Project/
Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Christ Church Greenwich

254 East Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, Connecticut, USA 06830

Assoc. Minister/
Director of Prison Ministries
First Baptist Church of Bridgeport
126 Washington Avenue, 1st Fl.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA  06604

 

(0) +1203.769.1096

(m) +1203.339.5887
jgrant@progressiveprisonproject.org
jg3074@columbia.edu
progressiveprisonproject.org

We Have Dreams Too, By Lynn Springer

Progressive Prison Project

Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Greenwich, Connecticut

We Have Dreams Too

By Lynn Springer 

Being children of the 50's and 60's, my husband Jeff and I had many remarkable role models as we were growing up: The Freedom Fighters, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Ruby Bridges & many more.  They paved the way for us, taught us what to strive for and have given us goals. 

We have learned that suffering knows no boundaries; suffering is colorblind; suffering knocks on the doors of the rich and the poor.  It touches the babe and the elderly - no one is immune.  

Whenever incarceration is in the picture there is suffering whether you live in the back-country of Greenwich or in the neighborhoods of Bridgeport.  

This is why we are filled with extreme gratitude to announce that, with the assistance of Rev. Jim Lemler and Rev. Jenny Owen, the Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project will now have a second home at Christ Church Greenwich - along with our first home at the First Baptist Church of Bridgeport with our mentor Rev. Hopeton Scott. 

We are bound by our brokenness, and nothing can heal the wounds of the incarcerated and their loved ones without light, love, compassion and togetherness. We are so thankful that the light is now shining in Greenwich. 

If you would like to learn more about the light and compassion of our ministry, on Dec. 13th, at 6:30 am, David Miller, Director of the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative and Host of the Greenwich Leadership Forum will be interviewing my husband, Rev. Jeff Grant.  Indian Harbor Yacht Club, Steamboat Road, Greenwich.  We hope you will join us. 

Blessings & peace to you all.

Respectfully,

Lynn

Lynn Springer, Advocate

Innocent Spouse & Children Project 

______________

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div
Director, Progressive Prison Project/
Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Christ Church Greenwich

254 East Putnam Avenue
Greenwich, Connecticut, USA 06830

Assoc. Minister/
Director of Prison Ministries
First Baptist Church of Bridgeport
126 Washington Avenue, 1st Fl.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA  06604

 

(0) +1203.769.1096

(m) +1203.339.5887
jgrant@progressiveprisonproject.org
jg3074@columbia.edu

progressiveprisonproject.org

Press Release: Bridgeport Pardons Assistance Project Receives $4000 Grant From ABCUSA

The Prison Ministries of

The First Baptist Church of Bridgeport

126 Washington Avenue

Bridgeport, Connecticut 066o4 

PRESS RELEASE:

 Bridgeport Pardons Assistance Project

bpapct.org 

The Prison Ministries of The First Baptist Church of Bridgeport announces that is the recipient of a $4000 Matthew 25 Grant from ABCUSA (the national body of the American Baptist Churches) to fund the Bridgeport Pardons Assistance Project!

We have opened the first pardons assistance office to cover all of Fairfield County (bpapct.org). 


The grant is specifically dedicated to be disbursed to clients to pay for their pardons related expenses such as transportation, police records, finger print costs, etc.
 
The Mission of the Bridgeport Pardons Assistance Project is to combat poverty, from the first day of an ex-offender’s release from prison, through a Culture of Pardons: public service, volunteerism, goodness, dedication, forgiveness, grace, discipline, faith, and family – these are kinds of things an ex-offender needs to obtain a Pardon. 

The BPAP is important for the Fairfield County reentry community because it marks real on-the-ground change borrowed from enlightened criminal justice theory espoused at the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections and by the State of Connecticut Board of Pardons and Paroles (with which dept. we are working closely).

Of course, not every ex-offender and family that applies for a Pardon will be granted one - but great things can and will happen for all who engage the process.  The point is create and engender a Culture of Pardons - the more ex-offenders who are granted pardons, the more we will combat lives of poverty for all ex-offenders and their families.

The BPAP’s objective is to bring professionalism and respect to a process at a time when our clients’ have already been through the most difficult and dehumanizing periods of their lives. Our volunteers have been trained at the State of Connecticut Board of Pardons & Paroles.  

The BPAP is part of a larger mission at the First Baptist Church of Bridgeport to welcome and offer a home to the reentry and recovery communities. We recognize it might be difficult to imagine in some churches - not in ours!  This plan has fully approved by both Senior Pastor Hopeton Scott and the full Congregation of The First Baptist Church of Bridgeport.

"We feel truly blessed in our mission to assist each and every person in the ex-offender community of Fairfield County to engage in a "Culture of Pardons" and to begin the pardon application process as soon as possible.  It is never too early to start the process of spiritual growth and transformation towards what just might lead to a pardon." 

For More Information:  Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, 
Assoc. Minister / Director of Prison Ministries 
bpapct.org,
126 Washington Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604 jgrant3074@bpapct.org, (203) 769-1096


__________________________

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div
Director, Progressive Prison Project/
Innocent Spouse & Children Project
Greenwich, Connecticut, USA

Assoc. Minister/
Director of Prison Ministries
First Baptist Church of Bridgeport
126 Washington Avenue, 1st Fl.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA 06604

(o) +1203.769.1096
(m) +1203.339.5887
jgrant@progressiveprisonproject.org
jg3074@columbia.edu
progressiveprisonproject.org