This morning, I read in the N&R that Amends Ministry is finally closing its doors. The transitional housing program for ex-offenders has had its problems for some time, and I had been expecting this announcement long before it came. The loss of Amends leaves just one ex-offender ministry in Greensboro (that I’m aware of), Jericho House. And unfortunately, the need for this type of ministry far outweighs the available resources. When I read the article, my mind went immediately to a young man we met last night on NightWatch.
At our first stop downtown, we met a 19-year old with no money and no place to sleep. He’d just been discharged from jail and was trying to find a way to get back up north, where his family lives. He looked so young and so alone, and when I hugged him I felt him unmistakably steel himself against it — so self-protective, so wary. He broke my heart.
We found him a place to stay for the weekend. Somehow, it seemed scarier to me to think of him on the street than to think of him in the jail he’d just come out of, although honestly, I don’t know which one is more dangerous. I’ll follow up and try to find someone who will provide the $57.00 he needs for the bus ticket back home. I pray that someone in his family will welcome him back and love him and help him start over. And I pray that Greensboro will soon have more life-changing options for folks leaving jail and prison and settling in our community.
