Jail Ministry

A team of 22 volunteers have been trained to go into the Maricopa County Jails to share the gospel message of Christ one-on-one with incarcerated men and women. On the weekends several teams of volunteers go in to conduct church services with the inmates in English and Spanish. In 2007, 2,643 individual inmate visits were made by ASM volunteers who led inmates in over 750 professions of faith.

Prison Visitation Ministry

A new ministry being developed is a team of volunteers who visit inmates in prison. The visitation team pictured is a group that can visit inmates in any prison throughout the state. Their purpose is to follow up with inmates from County Jail as they enter into the state prison system to offer encouragement and support during their incarceration time.

In-Prison Bible Studies

A total of 37 volunteers go into 14 prison units throughout the state to do weekly Bible studies with inmates. These studies are geared to help inmates learn how to prepare for their release from prison. The inmates have learned how to live as Christians in prison, but need to learn how to live as Christians when released. A number of these volunteers also teach Celebrate Recovery to the inmates. This is a Christ centered 12-step program that deals with addictive behavior.

Mentoring

A total of 35 mentor volunteers work with their inmate mentees 6 months to a year before their release from prison. The mentors help the mentees identify issues of concern they will face upon their release from prison. Then the two of them put together a plan to help overcome these issues. The mentor ministry is a core value of ASM. We strive to have every inmate matched with a mentor to help the mentee through the very difficult transition process. Mentors continue to work with their mentee after release from prison. The mentor's role is to help the mentee implement the plan the two of them have put together prior to release from prison. The goal is to have the mentee attending a church of their choice, to get clothing, driver's license and court issues cleared up, and to get a job within 3 weeks after release from prison. The mentor meets weekly with his or her mentee throughout the transition time. This has proven to be a very important period of adjustment for the person coming out of prison. When you have a friend to walk with, it makes a difference in putting life back together.

Men's Discipleship Training Center (DTC)

This is a 6 unit apartment complex where all of the men in our programs in prison come to live for at least 6 months after their release. It is here that they meet and associate with other Christian men as they learn to live a God centered life in the community. Weekly Bible studies, Celebrate Recovery, financial planning classes, Victorious Christian Living classes, community service projects, etc. are all a part of the program each man will participate in while living at this facility. There are currently over 50 men in the state prison system who are actively preparing to live at the facility upon their release. The average length of stay is around 8 months, although a few have needed to stay up to 18 months in order to adequately prepare for living on their own.

Women's Discipleship Training Center (WDTC)

The women's mentoring program has started at Perryville, the only women's prison.  Mentor matches have been  made and the first woman came to the home in May 2007. The women in our program will live in these facilities and go through the same types of programs as the men. As of April 2008, there are 22 women in prison preparing to live at the facilities and more are being interviewed each month.

Prison Transition Services

This is a new ministry being developed for anyone just released from prison. Those who contact us will be given food, clothing, and bus passes. They will be directed to resources for jobs and housing. Computer access, training classes and Bible studies will also be available. This will be an opportunity to connect with the Christian community and get established in a local church as well.

Faithful Volunteers Work in All of These Areas

We have over 140 volunteers that faithfully work to accomplish the ministry in every area of our work. We couldn't accomplish the huge task before us without these marvelous God-inspired people.

Our Staff
- Marshall, Director Of Operations
- Tino, Director Jail Ministry
- Terry, Former Director of the DTC
- Debbie, Women's Program Director
- Inez, Administrative Asistant
- Nacho, Asst Director of the DTC
- Sherry, Assistant Ministry Director
- Collis, Executive Director
- Theresa, Office Manager
- Lee, Special Projects
- Ken, Director prison Transition Services
 

Are We Making a Difference?

Along Side Ministries was started in July of 1999. We piloted the mentor concept at the old Florence prison complex starting with 11 mentors matched with 11 inmates. That first program was not a great success if you look at how many men stayed out of prison. But it showed us what we needed to do to become better and more effective. This program still exists today in the Florence North Unit with 21 inmates that attend every week. Recently, we looked at every person who has been through our program since the inception of the ministry to see who has returned to prison. Almost 80% of the people we have served in the last 10 years have remained out of prison. The recidivism rate (return to prison) for the Arizona Department of Corrections is approximately 64% within 3 years. We are doing a good job, but we can do better. Our goal is to increase our success rate to 90-95%.