White-Collar Online Support Group Celebrates 100th Meeting

Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. proudly announces that the 100th weekly meeting of its national online White Collar/Nonviolent Support Group will be held on Monday, April 16th at 7:00 pm EDT. It is the first confidential online support group in the United States for people prosecuted for white-collar and other nonviolent crimes.

The group is open to all individuals who have white collar or nonviolent criminal incarceration issues. Each Monday evening, the meeting takes place live online at 7:00 pm EDT (6pm CDT; 5pm MDT, 4pm PDT)

Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Co-founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Greenwich, CT, and Co-host of the Criminal Justice Insider radio show broadcast from New Haven, CT, said, "We are extremely proud and grateful to reach this milestone for the group. When we started the group nearly two years ago, we had a dream that people living in shame, guilt, fear and isolation could form a supportive community embracing compassion, empathy and kindness for each other, dedicated to reaching out to offer support to others living in isolation, afraid to seek help."

With members in 19 states and growing, the group is moderated by clergy as part of a program of pastoral counseling to best ensure confidentiality. Most participants have gone through their legal/prison issues in chief and are out the other side.

Participation in the group is easy: Progressive Prison Ministries sends out weekly login instructions to members with a unique link for that week's online meeting on GoToMeeting. Those interested in joining can get information and join the meeting by contacting the hosts at https://prisonist.org/white-collar-support-group. Each week, participants can choose to login via video on a computer, tablet or smart phone that is equipped with a camera, or audio only via phone. Anyone currently on supervised release, probation or parole, MUST first discuss his or her participation with their P.O. See prisonist.org for more details.

"The overwhelming majority of people prosecuted for white-collar crimes are not the rich and famous who are the subjects of sensationalized headlines," Grant said. "In reality, they are people who live down the street, whose children go to school with yours, who got in over their heads to the point of self-destruction." Grant continued, "Many have been stigmatized by their own families, friends and communities, and the business community. Their children have been taunted, ridiculed and bullied at school. They are whispered about, pointed at and disdained. They have been shunned in their churches, synagogues, and civic organizations. They cannot afford to feed themselves, their families, or to heat their homes. They sit with the blinds and curtains drawn - waiting for the day their homes will be sold out from under them."

About Progressive Prison Ministries:
Established in 2012 in Greenwich, Connecticut, Progressive Prison Ministries is the first ministry in the United States created to support individuals, families and organizations with white-collar and other nonviolent incarceration issues. Grant said, "Most white-collar criminals can't go back to their old lives and careers, so what choice do they really have? Why not embrace a completely new life, with new options, and new opportunities centered on spirituality and doing the right things? The most fortunate are those who figure out that their attempts to solve problems in isolation are not working, and that they no longer have to go it alone." More information is available at Progressive Prison Ministries and on its social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+ and YouTube.

About Progressive Prison Ministries' Co-Founders:
Co-Founders Jeff Grant and Lynn Springer were recently featured in a twelve-page article in Greenwich Magazine: "The Redemption of Jeff Grant," March 2018 issue. Jeff is also the Executive Director of Family ReEntry, a Bridgeport, CT based criminal justice organization with offices and programs in eight Connecticut cities. After serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff began his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

For additional information, please contact Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, (203) 405-6249; info@prisonist.org.