Thousands of in-kind donations of time from volunteers, jail residents, and friends are what sustain VHJR's programs, as well as contributions of $1 to $200 from generous individuals, churches, organizations, and businesses. 

One Ellsworth, ME business, The Riverside Cafe www.theriversidecafe.com, donates a free meal certificate for each Post-Release Packet provided by VHJR to newly released jail residents.

VHJR also works closely with other service organizations in the Ellsworth-area community.  Prior to receiving the recent grant from the Maine Community Foundation, VHJR gratefully received a grant from MCF in 2004 to assist with program enhancement, post-release services, VHJR's new volunteer-mentoring program, and relationship building in greater Hancock County.

In 2002, VHJR was awarded a planning grant from Maine Initiatives Foundation and a grant from the Self-Education Foundation. And in 2003, the Maine Coalition on Smoking and Health contributed a counseling and education grant that allowed us to begin group chemical addiction counseling for the jail residents.  Since that beginning we have again received assistance from Maine Community Foundation, from St. Francis Church Community Building Fund, and Coastal Hancock Healthy Communities

This early introduction of rehabilitation services by VHJR has now grown into a full-service rehabilitation program. As of February 2004, Open Door Recovery Center of Ellsworth, Maine is providing the first in-jail rehab in the state of Maine. We are grateful to Open Door, to the Hancock County Jail administrators, and to the Jail Residents for making this possible!

__________________________________________

Hope Magazine featured our volunteer work -- how we started and how we all

benefit from our jail programs -- in "Bridging the Gap." 

Working Waterfront summarized VHJR's goals and programs

in "Downeast Volunteers Keep Jail Residents Connected."            

 

__________________________________________

Radio Interviews about VHJR Programs:

Click HERE for RadioActive about Jail Residents' Art Show, Bo Lozoff and VHJR programs.

WERU-FM Community Radio, 89.9 Blue Hill, ME

Click HERE   for another story about VHJR on RadioActive - WERU FM

Click HERE for a Voices show on WERU-FM, including readings

from Notes from Inside by Hancock Jail Residents.

__________________________________________

If you are interested in finding out more about Volunteers for Hancock Jail Residents

please contact us at -- bluehill.me@prexar.com  

or call 207-374-3608

but first, please read through our website to find out more about what we do.

Volunteers

for Hancock Jail Residents (VHJR)

The residents of Hancock County Jail have unique talents and resources, as well as the courage to improve their lives.  They are our friends, neighbors, and relatives who will rejoin us on the "outside" after their sentences.  Many of the jail residents are young and many have chemical addiction illnesses. Others are there because they owe fines and cannot bail themselves out.

Regardless of the reasons for incarceration, VHJR volunteers are interested in incorporating our incarcerated citizens into positive roles in the community by providing restorative assistance.  But rather than entering the jail with the idea of "changing" anyone, we are simply there to share community support, friendship, and a greater feeling of belonging.

Hancock County Jail is located in Ellsworth, Maine.  As Volunteers for Hancock Jail Residents (VHJR), we are dedicated to building a communication bridge between jail residents and the larger outside community. We are a nonsectarian, nonprofit, all-volunteer organization under the fiscal sponsorship of Downeast Health Services, Ellsworth, ME, a 501c3 charitable organization.

Post Release Planning News

VHJR volunteers, in conjunction with others in Hancock County, are planning for a

Re-Entry, Post Release Center for Ellsworth, ME called "The Landing."

Funding for strategic planning has been received from

Maine Community Foundation's Hancock County and Saxifrage Funds, and VHJR has also

received funding from St. Francis Church Community Building Fund for post-release efforts.

If you would like to offer suggestions, space for a small center,

or assist in implementation, please contact us through this website.

Plans for the Center, and other ideas, were discussed in a Community Forum:

"Incarceration in Maine -- What Can We Change?

    Building Community from the 'Inside' Out"  

      Please read the Bangor Daily News article about the Forum

Listen to an Interview on WERU Radioactive News: "VHJR & the FORUM"

Radioactive News and scroll to 4-6-06.

                                  

                                     

                                               "Inside Art"

                      Read about... An Art Exhibit by Hancock Jail Residents

                                                           

                                      

                    

                See: Ellsworth American:

               "A Different Perspective - Art from the Inside"

                Maine Coast Now: "Prison Inmates Show Art"

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             "Mandala with Eye" by George Taylor IV

"Inside Art"

Poster

Art lovers chat about the unique artwork that covers the lobby walls of The Grand at the “Inside Art” exhibit while enjoying a spread of delicious refreshments.  The “Inside Art” exhibit, featuring a variety of artwork by the residents and former residents of the Hancock County Jail, opened for viewing at The Grand on June 7 and is up until July 2. The reception attracted a large crowd of former jail residents, Volunteers for Hancock Jail Residents (VHJR) and the general public.

Staff Photo by Cathy Shane, The Ellsworth American

Welcome!

Announcements. . .

--MAINE PRISONER ADVOCACY NETWORK formed: Info

-- Hancock County Community Dialogue in May:

The Landing: A Re-Entry Post Release Center.

Call 207-374-3608

“How sad it is that we give up on people who are just like us.”

-- Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood