A note to readers and listeners: audio recorders are not allowed inside SCI Township, so you will not hear the voices of inmates and people who participated in the town hall meeting. And, for the protection of victims, only the first names of inmates are used.
To some, it almost seems like a utopian dream: bring together community members from 11 nonprofit organizations with inmates from State Correctional Institution (SCI) Coal Township, in the middle of rural Pennsylvania, for a town meeting. The objective? To identify the most dire challenge facing nearby communities and address it using funds from two inmate-operated social service agencies, TriumpH and LifeLine.
Since 1995, TriumpH—which stands for Teamwork, Respect, Integrity, Unity, Morals, Pride and Honesty— has supported nonprofit organizations through its charitable donations. The LifeLine organization, comprised of inmates given prison sentences of 10 years to life, has been in operation since 2016 and has similar goals.
In September 2023, Cassandra Catino, treatment director at Applegate Recovery, with offices in Mt. Carmel and Selinsgrove, met with members of TriumpH and LifeLine to discuss the most effective way to identify and fund organizations to achieve the greatest good. The Local Community Matter Town Hall Meeting on May 15 was a first step toward achieving that outcome.
“If we could all get on the same page about one common goal, we could actually do great things in this area,” Catino said. “Instead of us being so diversified, let’s bring our resources, focus on the most important thing, conquer that, and move on.”
Draye, senior advisor and past president of TriumpH, viewed the meeting as a way to gather input from the community.
“We’re incarcerated,” he said. “We need help identifying what these groups need to succeed.”
Daliyl, LifeLine constitution/bi-laws director, added, “There has to be a paradigm shift. We have to pool our resources. A lot of donations overlap. If we can come together as a coalition, and address a common issue, we have a better chance of success.”
Lenaire Ahlum sees the absence of a community college in central Pennsylvania as a barrier to success for people. As founder and director of Susquehanna Valley Education Project, she has worked for 15 years without compensation to establish a community college in Northumberland County.
“I am committed to getting this done,” she stressed. “I’ve worked to provide the ways and means to get the Northumberland County Commissioners to see this need.”
She urged everyone in attendance to write letters to the commissioners to stress the importance of a community college as a way to secure education needed to seek gainful employment, and uplift lives.
A common theme was the need to prevent drug use, violence, and other criminal behavior in young people before they get into trouble with the law.
“Once kids reach the age of 15,” one attendee said, “it’s too late.”
Lycoming County Commissioner Mark Mussina sees the establishment of a mentoring program, especially for at-risk youth, as central to achieving that goal. He asked the group if anything like that exists.
“We have been working to try to expand our ‘Dare 2 Care’ mentoring program to North Central Treatment Center,” confirmed Nyako, vice president of LifeLine. “Our 12-week program addresses character development. And we learn from each other. There’s a lot of red tape we can’t seem to cut through. We want to be able to offer our experience and insights, and we are eager to share our wisdom.”
Daliyl expanded on that idea. “Our goal is to expand this [mentoring] program to the community,” he said. “Those [inmates] who have taken part have been successful in getting their lives in order.”
Timothy, treasurer of TriumpH, shared his own story to emphasis the importance of early intervention. He became addicted to drugs at a young age and stole from friends and family to support his drug habit. He was arrested at age 27—he’s 52 now—and noted that kids are becoming addicted at younger ages than ever before.
“The question is, how do we reach them? Timothy asked the group. “Do we make a DVD so they can see us – see where we are? None of us want to see anyone go through this. If someone could have taken the time with us, we might not be here today.”
Joanne Troutman, chief operations officer of Youth Advocate Programs, Inc. (YAP), based in Harrisburg, delivers community based-services for youth in centers throughout Pennsylvania. She laments the loss of the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program regionally, and sees a lack of volunteers as a limiting factor. She explained that the community-based services offered by YAP are a more effective, economical, and a fair alternative to youth incarceration, residential care, and neighborhood violence.
“We need more resources like this,” she stressed.
Cara Glazer, a volunteer at the Donald Heiter Community Center in Lewisburg, stressed the importance of replicating before and after school programs and summer camp successfully operated by the Heiter Center, both for low- and moderate-income families. The programs are overseen by trained staff who serve as mentors for kids in the program.
“One benefit of the after-school program is the homework session, so homework gets done, with help from Heiter Center staff, before the child even goes home for dinner,” she said. “That’s a huge help for families that are already under a time crunch.”
Stacie Snyder, community action administrator, Central Susquehanna Opportunities, Inc., of Shamokin, sees lack of housing as a barrier to success. She helps people become self-sufficient, upon release from prison, or if other circumstances render them homeless.
“We provide basics, like clothing and hygiene products, so people are not faced with more barriers,” she said. She works with the Salvation Army in Harrisburg to get people into the organization’s 6-to-12 month program that helps people re-enter society in a productive way.
Catino views this first meeting as groundwork for the future.
“I think that it went very, very well,” she said. “There was a ton of different feedback, from housing, food, drug prevention, gun violence, addiction. So for us to find a common goal, I think we really have to think outside the box. And I think we all could agree prevention is so vital. So when we're talking about poverty and things like that, a lot of times the root of that is addiction. And we have inherited trauma. So how do we stop that? How do we prevent that?”
Catino sees the funds generated by TriumpH and LifeLine as vital to the success of the mission.
“State funding and grant funding is so important, but it’s also a hindrance in the sense of there’s so many restrictions behind that. We have the opportunity here, especially with the guys in the prison, to make something really long lasting and sustainable and have a long-term impact.”
In the past four years, TriumpH and LifeLine have raised and distributed nearly $200,000 in funds to nonprofit organizations in Coal Township and the surrounding area, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and nationally.