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Brother to Brother aims to ease inmates' re-entry into society
By CHASITY GUNN
Staff Writer
They're creating a cycle of giving and getting, teaching and learning, disciplining and rewarding.
What began seven years ago as a small group of men mentoring one another has turned into a program at a local correctional facility that helps inmates re-enter society.
''We realized that there was a serious problem in our community,'' said Marshall Henderson, program director. ''We saw a lot of males that had come to our group who have been in prison or were on their way.''
The program, Brother to Brother, is a seven-week program held at the Correctional Development Center off Harding Place. The correctional facility is a minimum-security detention facility.
The group meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays to discuss finances, drugs and AIDS awareness, spiritual awareness, education and self-improvement. It's a nondenominational program directed by Henderson and Bruce Bryant.
Henderson and Bryant got the idea for the program after attending a conference in Lexington, Ky. Bob Bakari, professor of African studies at Middle Tennessee State University, and Ruth Lewis of the Martha O'Bryan Center, a Nashville Christian outreach ministry, helped them start the program.
With the help of L.B. Phillips, a case manager facilitator at the facility, the men developed a curriculum for the program, called ''Traveling Back to the Roads of Freedom.''
The men are taught everything from financial responsibility to furthering their education.
''We can easily overlook these guys,'' Henderson said. ''If someone doesn't help them, they'll go back and do it again. We have to catch these guys before they go back to the community.''
The inmates, who have been convicted for such things as selling drugs and not paying child support, also learn how to change their lives by focusing on self-esteem and self-awareness.
''Just because you did something bad doesn't make you a bad person,'' Henderson said. ''The key is not to do it again.''
During each hour-and-a-half session, the men have the opportunity to ask questions and share their opinions on the topics.
''A lot of guys have not graduated from school,'' Henderson said, adding that the average class size is 18-20 men.
Even though Brother to Brother is nondenominational, it has a strong spiritual focus and welcomes all faiths.
''God is too big to fit into one religion,'' Bryant said.
Those who complete the program receive a certificate.
It's something they can show to their parole officers and judges to prove they are trying to change their lives, Phillips said.
Henderson, Bryant and Phillips believe the program is a success.
''Our attitude of success is that they don't come back,'' Henderson said. ''We have dealt with 140 guys in the last year, and most have not come back.''
But Henderson said some inmates do return to the facility and participate in the program. When they can't find a job, they often go back to the streets to make a living, which usually means doing something illegal, he said.
Bryant and Henderson would like to see the organization, which became a nonprofit about two years ago, grow. They hope to begin similar programs in state prisons and to develop a component that will cater to women in prison called Sister to Sister.
''We're not preaching a new religion,'' Bryant said. ''We're preaching a new way of life.''
More information
To learn more about Older to Younger or Brother to Brother, contact directors Marshall Henderson at 315-9853 or Bruce Bryant at 262-2777. Older to Younger meets at the Edmondson Pike Library in Antioch on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.
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