Puppies for Parole

Recently, I saw a news report about Cuddly Catz, a program based out of Canada that pairs prison inmates with kitties that are not adoptable due to behavior issues. This program has proven to be very successful in reducing inmate conflict, providing a more positive environment in the facility and giving the offender a chance to give back to society from within the facility while providing a second chance for the cats.

A similar program, Puppies for Parole, was started in Missouri on February 1, 2012. On Tuesday, April 24, 2012, I was privileged to have the opportunity to be present when Maryville Treatment Center officially became the 17th of the 19 total state correctional institutions to begin participation in the Puppies for Parole program!! 

The benefits of this program are three-fold. Puppies for Parole gives offenders the skills necessary to support successful rehabilitation, reentry, ultimately improving public safety. At the same time, this is an opportunity for the offenders to re-pay Missouri communities and repair some of the debts caused by their crimes. We have seen this program have a profound effect on the inmates and staff, increasing the safety and security of the facility. (Information from program website)

The simple arrival of the dogs has changed the atmosphere at the facility. The handlers (offenders privileged to be working with the dogs) seem more confident interacting with outsiders and very comfortable with the animals. It was interesting to watch outsiders timidly sit next to and interact with offenders, who are men just like you...yet happen to have been convicted of a crime that resulted in time in prison.

This is a very exciting day for Therapeutic Recreation and the offenders housed at MTC. What a difference these 3 pups (Honeybun, Laurie and Dutchess) will make on so many lives. While the handlers received stressed words of how important their success is in their challenge, the smiles on their faces showed great promise for their own personal success in recovery.

If anyone is interested in adopting one of the many privileged pups, please visit http://doc.mo.gov/division/dai/puppies.php and contact the associated animal shelter. For more information about the Puppies for Parole program, please visit the program website.

Puppies for Parole - http://puppiesforparole.com

Books Benefiting Orphans

Visit http://booksbenefitingorphans.blogspot.com/ to see the great work a young family is doing to change the World.  Caleb and Christy and their son Luke have done work in Brazil and China and are currently working on the funding for a 4 year project in Thailand.

"To those who have confidence in themselves, change is a stimulus because they believe ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE and influence what goes on around them. These people are the doers and motivators." - Buck Rogers

"My History is Black History. My History is Women's History"

This week I wanted to recognize the work of a good friend, Joshua Phillips. Josh recently wrote an artice for the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale newspaper the Daily Egyptian.

As we near the end of Black History Month, I write with a sense of urgency that challenges us all to think beyond February and recognize how each of our histories are intrinsically linked to the histories of black women all year long. As a white man, I cannot ignore that my humanity is intrinsically linked to the humanity of women such as....

Read more: http://dailyegyptian.com/2012/02/26/022712_guestcolumn_opinion/#ixzz1nhwUnNqw

"How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment: we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straight away."                                                                            Anne Frank

Be a Glass Polisher

Below is a blog post from CampusTalkBlog.com (one of my favorites).  Are you a glass polisher or are you tossing "waste" aside?  Both can change the world for someone, choose to be a Glass Polisher.
Be a Glass Polisher
By Dave "Gonzo" Kelly

I have had a lot of mentors in my life, people that I look up to, people who encouraged and supported me. They could have easily pushed me aside or told me I was never going to succeed, but they took an interest in me, and that has made all of the difference in my life. My friend, Dr. Jeanine C. Long, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Director of Career Placement and Development at Southwest Georgia Technical College in Thomasville, GA has had a similar experience. She sent me the following in response to my on-going request for people to send in their own stories of success, mentors, triumphs and more.
Glass Beach used to be a public dump. Refuge was thrown off the cliff and into the ocean including old cars, household garbage, and a lot of glass. In 1967, the dump, located in Ft. Bragg, California, a little coastal town in the northern part of the state, was closed. At first, the beach was a natural disaster but after years of pounding surf, tons and tons of polished glass looking like priceless gems were deposited on the shore.
In the 1990s, Glass Beach was reopened to the public. In the summer of 2006, I found myself sitting on its shoreline and I realized that my life was like this polished glass! No one had given me hope for college. My high school counselor even told me, “You will never get accepted by a college, but if by fluke you do, you will never make it. You just don’t have what it takes.”
Well, I did get accepted and it was by my first-choice college! However, I left after my freshman year. I felt ruined, worthless, and tossed away. Storms, rough waves, and circumstances made me feel like the pieces of glass that had been dumped into the ocean: broken.
Two years later, a single mom with a minimum-wage job, I returned to college. What happened to me those next few years was nothing short of a miracle. As I weathered the storms and was tossed by the waves, my life was being polished. Back then, I didn’t recognize what was happening to me as instructors, mentors, and peers washed me to shore as a shining gem. I was no longer broken trash.
The jar of polished glass on my desk reminds me of where I came from. Without the storms, waves, and pounding, that glass would be just glass. But want a difference adversity can make in a broken life!
Do you toss others aside as trash and broken refuse? Or, do you push them forward, gently brushing off and reshaping sharp, jagged edges, allowing their scratched lives to shine? I choose to be a glass polisher.
I would love to hear your story, too. Please take a moment to comment here with your story. And then, why not drop a note to one of your mentors to thank them for being a glass polisher for you?
I wasn’t kidding! I really do want to write about YOU in a future blog post! Tell me how you have overcome obstacles, achieved goals, or surpassed the expectations of others—especially those who may have underestimated you. If you want to tell me your story, but don’t want me to publish your name, I can do that too!

“10 Ideas That Could Change The World” Slideshow | Fast Company

“10 Ideas That Could Change The World” Slideshow Fast Company