1. KEEPING FAMILIES CONNECTED
In the 25 years since Use What You’ve Got Prison Ministry (UWYGPM) was founded, we have
more than doubled the number of adults in prison in Indiana:
 1989: 12,341
 1999: 19,309
 2009: 28,389
 2013: 28,919
For 25 years, UWYGPM is the only service available in Marion County to provide transportation
of family members wanting to visit their loved ones in prison
THE IMPACT ON FAMILIES
 A majority of prisoners do not receive visits from family members while they are
incarcerated, yet research shows that evenone visit during their length of incarceration
will reduce their likelihood for recidivism by 13%
 Incarceration can lead to the disintegration of family relationships, but we know there is
much that can be done to rebuild and strengthen these relationships:
o facilitating more affordable contact with family and friends,
o investing in the services that exist to facilitate ongoing family connections, like
Use What You’ve Got Prison Ministry
o providing support for the family members of the incarcerated men and women
that are soon to be released
FINANCIAL IMPACT
 About 4,000 offenders return to Marion County from prison each year
 Currently, more than half will return to prison within three years
 For every 46 offenders that we can keep from going back, we can save $1.55 Million in
taxpayer funds
 $660 covers the cost for a busload of people (22 riders) to visit an average of 15
prisoners
 The average cost for one offender to receive one visit from family members using
UWYGPM services is $44
 We estimate that every $1 invested in helping families travel to visit loved ones in
prison can result in $100 in savings when these offenders are successful in staying out
of prison in the future—this doesn’t even include the value of the improvements in
public safety in our communities and the peace of mind that comes with that
It’s about KEEPING FAMILIES CONNECTED, IMPROVING PUBLIC SAFETY, and SAVING MONEY
WE NEED YOUR HELP