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Innocent children and spouses also pay a price for the crimes of their loved ones, and 10 community service agencies in High Point want to eradicate that unfair penalty.

It won't happen overnight, according to Chaplain Joyce Setchfield of High Point Jail Ministry. There has to be a starting point to educate these victims, and "let them know that being in prison is not glamorous - not a preferred lifestyle," she said.

The agencies are pooling resources and expertise for a series of meetings to provide programs for families of High Point Detention Center inmates. The first meeting will be 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club, 1215 W. Cloverdale Place.

Setchfield said some of the roughly 350 inmates have provided names of family members they want to participate, but there is no way of knowing how many will attend. "We have food that has been donated and we can feed 80 to 100 people," she said.

Setchfield said that a different type of meeting of inmates' families held last October attracted 50 people. "Inmates shared about their lives. We had a speaker and a children's workshop. We wanted to do more to help the families this year."

Two workshops, "Parenting Under Stress" and "Tips for Getting and Keeping a Job in a Tough Economy," will be held for adults. SKIP - Support for Kids with Incarcerated Parents - will work with children ages 5-12 concerning issues that affect them.

"This event does have the potential to turn into a monthly event," said Amy Lynn Rhoderick, SKIP coordinator for the Tristan's Quest organization in Greensboro.

"Long-term, we hope to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration," she said. "For a child, having a parent in prison is a sad and scary time. These children oftentimes feel fear, sadness, anger, guilt, shame and loneliness. This event will let children know they are not alone," Rhoderick said.

Isolation is a major issue for the families, said Cheri Henry of Fairview Family Resource Center, a program of Family Service of the Piedmont. "They feel as if they have nowhere to turn and that no one knows what they are going through," she said.

"The impact of the incarceration of a parent on children is great. It impacts everything from who feeds them and where they lay their heads at night to their beliefs about themselves and their world. The impact on those left to care for the children is great, too. It affects them financially, spiritually and socially," Henry said.
"Our agencies have come together to create a net to catch more of these families," she said.

It's the possibility of a dream come true for those working with High Point's inmates and their families, Setchfield said. "When I started as chaplain, I wanted to find ways to help families."

After more than a year on the job, she is pleased to see that other groups have the same goal.

"I am extremely excited about the High Point Jail Ministry being involved in this outreach," said David Adamson, chairman of High Point Jail Ministry. "This is expanding the influence of this ministry seven-fold. I've always wanted to bring the children into it. This adds more to our arsenal. We want to break the cycle and let the children know (being behind bars) doesn't have to be a way of life," Adamson said.

"We want to let the spouses and children know that there are services in our community to help and support them during their times of uncertainty and struggle," said Ronald D. Jones, career developer and services representative for Greensboro/High Point/Guilford County Workforce Development.

"Studies show increasing incidences of children of incarcerated parents also becoming involved in the court system," Jones said. "With jails and prisons becoming more and more crowded, we hope that the knowledge, access and support that these services can provide will offer some immediate relief to the families' situations, and eventually reduce future incidences of involvement with the court system."

Rhoderick pointed out that each of the organizations in this project has "a different area of specialty that is needed to make this event a success. It is important for the community to band together and support these families.
"These children and families have done nothing wrong," she said.

Contact Bob Burchette at bburchette@triad.rr.com