Justice and Mission Prison Resources

• Add prayer for incarcerated individuals, their families, prison staff, security and non-security, to your daily devotions. Include scripture study on Bible passages that speak to prison ministry.

Prison Fellowship is a helpful resource

• Add incarcerated individuals to your congregation’s prayer list.
• Pray for incarcerated individuals during worship in Prayer for the People. Pray for staff, mindful of struggles specific to corrections including shift work and the impact on family life, substance abuse, and trauma experiences as a result of workplace duties.
• Remember prison chaplains in your prayers, reach out to your local facility and let the chaplain(s) know you are praying for them.

Within the IL Dept of Corrections there is a Donation Protocol, as shown below.

Please note IDOC cannot and does not solicit donations.

Before a donation can be accepted, the Chaplain at the correctional facility must be provided the following information via email:

• what is being donated
• the fair market value of the item(s)
• the number of individuals who will benefit from the item(s)
• the date the donations will be delivered
• and the name of the donor.

Once this information is received, the Department will assess whether the donation meets our guidelines and will provide you with a determination on whether the donation(s) will be approved.
Please do not send donations prior to receiving this approval.

Correctional facilities have limited resources. Materials, such as the following, make a significant difference in the lives of those who are incarcerated.

• Bibles: New or Used,
• Study Bibles
• Hymnals
• Reference Books
• Printed materials for other faith traditions: Qurans for Muslims, Tanakh for Jewish individuals, etc.

All donated books may be new or gently used and must be free of writing, highlighting, or other markings. Both paperback and hardcover books are accepted in English and Spanish.

Whenever possible, large-print books are preferred to better serve individuals with visual impairments or those reading in environments with limited lighting.

Additional Donation Items
Imagine for a moment the challenge of taking a multipurpose room and creating sacred worship space. The following items benefit the transformation from a stark area with plastic chairs or benches into a sanctuary behind barbed wire and fencing.

• Communion Emblems: Prepackaged communion supplies, wafer and juice. Plastic communion cups, communion trays.
• Church Furnishings: Typically donated by churches who are remodeling or closing. Sprinkle Baptismal Font, Communion Table, Brass Cross for Communion Table, Praise Banners, etc.
• For Muslims: Prayer rugs, donation of dates during the Fast of Ramadan (used to break their fast each evening meal).
• For Catholics: Plastic rosaries

• Personal Library:Topics such as forgiveness, guilt, shame, etc.
• Church Library: Bible study materials, book club items, etc.
• Public Library: Often after annual public library sales, library staff offer prison libraries, including Chapel Libraries, the opportunity to select from the remaining sale books free of charge. In coordination with the chaplain of a prison facility, you may be able to transport an approved donation of books to the gate house of that prison.

There are three distinct layers of accessibility in the IDOC prison system for the general public. In all instances, the priority is safety and security, for the public and incarcerated.

• Gate House – Each facility has a gate house which is the point of entry for visitors, volunteers, and staff. Approved donations may be delivered to the gate house and this is also the place a chaplain may interview a potential chapel volunteer. You do not need a background check to enter the gate house, though you would need to have an invitation from the chaplain.
• Visiting Room – People who have been added to the Visiting List of an Individual in Custody may visit that individual in the Visiting Room at the facility or via Video Visit. If you are interested in visiting any individuals who do not have visitors, please contact the chaplain at the facility. You may also correspond with an individual via email once you are on their visiting list.
• Volunteer – If you would like to bring a one-time bible study or become a regular volunteer who meets in the Chapel with individuals in custody at approved times, reach out to the chaplain of the facility. Separate from a one-time visit, the process to become an approved regular volunteer includes an interview with the chaplain followed by an application. The Volunteer Coordinator will work with the Chaplain during this  process. Volunteer applicants who are approved by the Warden of the facility go through an orientation before they receive a volunteer badge which is maintained at the gate house of the facility. The facility chaplain schedules the approved regular volunteers for Chapel programming according to the needs of the facility.