The prison ministry coordinator for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Jim Powers, will present “Thresholds,” a new prison ministry program, at a session planned for Saturday, April 8, from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the first floor conference room at the Catholic Center.

Powers said that Thresholds is different from the previous program used, “One Church, One Inmate.” The new program will “take place within the prison system, initially in the transitional centers here in Atlanta … and it is a pre-release training program about making good decisions in life, so it is more focused than OCOI.” Powers added that Thresholds involves “teaching and mentoring” for a seven-week period.

The Thresholds program was developed by an ex-offender 40 years ago and has been implemented successfully for over 30 years in Pennsylvania and other areas of the northeastern United States.

Powers has presented the new program to the Department of Corrections volunteer resource coordinator, Charles Tolbert, and to the superintendent of the Atlanta Transitional Center, both of whom approved the new program.

A Thresholds team from Pennsylvania will provide the first training of volunteers for program implementation here in Georgia.

Powers believes that the program has great potential for enhancing the successful re-entry of prisoners into free society and for reducing recidivism.