Prisonist.org:
Faith & Dignity for the Days Ahead
Blogs, Guest Blogs & News
The Weston Forum: Former
White-Collar Criminal Turns Focus
to Spirituality and Helping Others
by Gregory Menti - Reporter
The Weston Forum
Reprinted from The Weston Forum,
May 12, 2016
Spirituality wasn’t always a word in Jeff Grant’s lexicon, but after a
near 14-month stint in prison for committing a white-collar crime,
Grant isn’t just practicing spirituality, he’s preaching it.
In 2012, Grant and his wife, Lynn Springer, co-founded an outreach ministry called Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse and Children Project.
The ministry helps people suffering from white-collar crimes connect
with their spirituality. White-collar crime is defined as “financially
motivated and nonviolent crime” committed by business and government
professionals.
Calling their ministry “safe and secure,” Grant and Springer discuss matters of shame, ostracism, grief and remorse with individuals and families affected by white-collar crime.
Grant, a Weston resident, has developed relationships with
white-collar criminals from across the country and uses phone, email and
Skype to connect with them on a regular basis.
Jeff Grant, a
former incarcerated white-collar criminal, and his wife, Lynn Springer,
are the founders of the Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse and
Children Project devoted to bringing spirituality and hope to people
affected by white-collar crimes.
Grant
Continued from 1A
Through what they refer to as “pastoral care,” the couple uses their experiences to guide individuals and
families through the time surrounding the criminal’s prison sentence.
“When someone is convicted of a white-collar crime there is a stigma
to that,” Grant said. “There is a shame and they don’t know where to
turn. They are often shunned from their community.”
While Grant counsels the individuals who commit the crimes, Springer turns much of her attention to their families.
Their services are entirely confidential, which means that lawyers
often allow Grant and Springer to continue their relationship with
clients during trials.
“What we’re doing is the first step in the formation of a new community
of people looking for acceptance and redemption,” said Grant of the
Prison Progressive Project. “These people are willing to adopt a
spiritual solution.” Grant’s relationship with clients doesn’t end at
sentencing.
He also communicates with them while they’re incarcerated.
Now that his service is in its fourth year and his clients are beginning
to see the end of their sentences, he’s starting to help guide them
with their post-prison life. While a client
is in prison, Springer communicates and counsels family members who are
suffering from shame from their community during that time period.
White-collar crime
Prior to his turn to spirituality, Grant was convicted of fraud, a common white-collar crime.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Grant, a successful
corporate and real estate attorney, applied for a low-interest Small
Business Administration loan for $247,000, claiming he had suffered
economic hardships from the attack at an office near Ground Zero.
However, he didn’t actually have an office there.
Grant said he was in the midst of a 10-year addiction to painkillers that impaired his judgment and rationality at the time.
In 2002, shortly after the Sept. 11 loan scam, Grant called his ethics attorney and relinquished his law license.
That night, he attempted suicide by taking an entire bottle of painkillers.
After his suicide attempt, Grant spent months in a rehab hospital in
New Canaan. He has been sober since his stint at the hospital.
In 2004, after two years of sobriety, Grant received a call informing
him there was a warrant for his arrest in connection with the fraudulent
9/11 loan.
Grant fully repaid the loan plus penalties, and in 2006 was sentenced to 18 months at the Allenwood Low Security Prison in White Deer, Pa.
Grant said he survived prison due to a new dedication to mind, body and spirit.
“In my 13 and a half months at prison, I walked 14,000 laps at the
track,” he said, explaining that was 3,500 miles, or the distance from
New York to Los Angeles. This resulted in him losing more than 40 pounds
that he had put on in the months when he was waiting to go to prison.
During his stint behind bars, Grant’s devotion to spirituality began when he started actively attending church services.
“Everyone goes through some form of transformation in prison,” he
said. “I became open to all forms of religion; Christianity, Islam,
Judaism. I became interested in the ways of these faiths,” he said.
After his release from prison, Grant received a master of divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
After he completed the program in 2012, Grant quickly was given a job
as a practicing minister at the First Baptist Church in Bridgeport and
soon after was named associate pastor and director of prison ministry at
the church.
Grant was
living in Greenwich at the time, and working in Bridgeport he noticed
the monumental financial divide of rich and poor in each community.
However, Grant said, financial wealth and spiritual wealth flipped once a member of each community was incarcerated.
“Once someone was convicted of a crime, there was a new definition of
rich and poor in each city,” said Grant. “Families in the inner cities
rallied around the oppressed, while families in Greenwich would push
them away.”
Prison Progressive Project
In May 2012, Grant established the outreach ministry Prison Progressive
Project/Innocent Spouse and Children Project, and began working toward
establishing spirituality within white-collar criminals.
As far as Grant knows, his ministry is the first of its kind.
“I found my calling which was based in my own experiences,” said
Grant. “The need for this work was there. Many affluent areas deny the
existence of crime. They deny the existence of substance abuse,” he
said.
Grant looks back
on the pressures of his job as an attorney and understands why many
white-collar criminals turn to substance abuse and crime.
“There were a lot of long hours, long nights and stress,” he said.
Before his incarceration, Grant said, he was very “materialistic” and
more focused on his BMWs and vacations than his spirituality. But he is
grateful that his life has turned in the direction it has.
“We have worked with wellknown people, with lawyers and
doctors,” said Grant. “We’ve worked with people who have exercised poor
judgment, or have substance abuse issues. We’ve worked with people who
don’t have the resources to bounce back.”
Grant and Springer don’t charge for their services, but they accept
donations. Grant said donors are often affluent individuals,
faith-based institutions or merely “compassionate people” who want to
make a difference.
Approximately 80% of their clientele finds them, and family members will often reach out to them before the criminal does.
One of the primary goals of the ministry is to educate the public on
the shame that white-collar criminals feel, and Grant will do that
through guest preaching at churches around the area.
Grant and Springer often attend Norfield Congregational Church on
Norfield Road, and Grant has spoken about his work in sermons there.
“We talk about why we are a unique ministry and how others can relate
to these experiences,” he said, adding that he also speaks about his
ministry at organizations, conferences and clubs.
Ultimately, Grant hopes to give white-collar criminals and their
families the spirituality they need to ensure they aren’t going through
challenging times alone.
“We really try to bring faith, dignity and respect to all of those who are suffering,” he said.
Comments from Social Media:
Rachael Littman - Amazing work that shines light onto a painful darkness found in isolation ! Addiction is an equal opportunity killer. No one is immune, it may just be the only thing we have an equal opportunity to experience; despite social status, race, or religion. Reading this article really does highlight the power of human kindness. The progressive prison project reminded me of how the connections we make provide amazing potentials for recovery and healing, despite how broken you may feel when people genuinely care and can accept us despite the dark isolated places we may be found. No matter how bad a place we may find ourselves today, with resilience and support bad situations can be turned around and can even lend us strength and spiritual (re)connection and possibilities that could not have been foreseen. Thank you for providing this amazing ministry.
Mary Setterholm -
Jeff Grant
was a dear friend I could trust when I attended Union Theological
Seminary for a year and then left for Harvard Divinity School. He and
his wife were the first people I connected with - Check out his
testimony - Blessings Jeff!
For many of us it was only after we reached the bottom of the pit of despair that we realized God had designed a purpose for us.
__________
Donations
We
are grateful for all donations this past year to our Ministries. These
donations enable us to grow, reach out and serve this community for
which there is far too little understanding, compassion, empathy and
accurate information. Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is a CT
Religious Corp. with 501c3 status -
all donations are tax deductible to the
extent permitted by law. We hope you will consider making a donation to
our appeal this year. Donations can be made by credit card/PayPal here,
at the "Donate" button on on our site, prisonist.org or by sending your
check payable to: "Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc." P.O. Box 1232,
Weston, Connecticut 06883. We have enclosed an addressed envelope for
your use. Thank you.
__________
If you, a friend or a family member are
experiencing a white-collar or nonviolent incarceration issue, please contact
us and we will promptly send you an information package by mail, email or via
Dropbox.
The darkest days of a
person's life can be a
time of renewal and hope.
__________
Progressive Prison Project/
(203) 536-5508
