Impact Georgia, Jan. 2007

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

2007 Kick-offs! Choose Freedom
and Project H.I.P. JUDGE TESKE ON THE FLIPSIDE! See it on page 2
GEORGIA CUSTOMER SERVICE "Faster. Friendlier. Easier."
Mission
The Georgia Department of Corrections protects and serves the public as a professional organiza-
tion by effectively managing offenders while helping to provide a safe and secure environment for the citizens of Georgia.
Vision
The Georgia Department of Corrections is the best
corrections system in the nation at protecting
the citizens from convicted offenders and at providing effective opportunities for offenders to achieve positive change. We are a leader and partner in making Georgia a safer, healthier, better educated, growing and
best managed state.

News and Facts to Keep You Informed - January 2007 GEORGIA: LEADER IN BATTLING

GDC Board Member Promotes New Poster

Campaign to Fight Meth Epidemic

It's been a year since Governor Perdue talked about

Georgia's "meth epidemic" in his State of the State address.

He stressed that the citizens of Georgia "cannot allow the

scourge of meth abuse to run unchecked in our state.

Bill Jackson

Georgia will fight back." Taking the lead to expand our continuing efforts to

GDC Board

support the Governor's campaign to fight the destruction of

methamphetamine abuse across the state, GDC Board

member Bill Jackson challenged the Office of Public Affairs to

create a new Choose Freedom poster to promote the

Governor's anti-meth campaign.

"Bill Jackson continues to put the needs and well-being of

the citizens of Georgia first, and we are very grateful for his

passionate leadership on our Board as we collaborate with

communities like Columbia County to stop meth abuse among

our younger citizens."

A former member of the Georgia General Assembly,

Jackson is an active member of the Columbia County

As a Georgia State Representative, Mr. Jackson

Chamber of Commerce and has provided guidance for getting worked tirelessly to encourage children to

the "meth message" into the schools in his community. The

improve their lives through education, faith and

new poster will be used to launch the 2007 Choose Freedom character.

community awareness campaign.

Corrections Division Director Arnie Depetro and his staff also are working to coordinate Choose

Freedom events with education partners in Columbia and Richmond counties in the greater Augusta

community along with schools in Clayton and Cobb counties.

Tift Campus Relocation Update

CORE GOALS

The Georgia Department of Corrections hosted a Tift Campus Relocation

A Safer, Healthier, Better Educated Growing,
and Best Managed Georgia

briefing for community leaders, Tift College alumni and local residents in Forsyth at the Mystic Biscuit Caf during the holidays. GDC Board Member Judge Tom Salter joined Commissioner Donald and Assistant Commissioner Brian Owens in welcoming more than 50 guests and GDC senior staff. Rep. Jim Cole and Forsyth Mayor Jimmy Pace were among

Core Organizational Principles

the special guests who greeted the standing room only crowd. The special occasion featured an introduction of the new architecture team that will lead the preservation and

Value Based: Stewards of the Public
Trust
Embrace Change: Change, Transformation is
inevitable
Business Acumen: Better Business Practice

restoration of the Tift Campus. Lord, Aeck and Sargeant, the architecture team selected, has extensive experience in the conservation and rehabilitation of historic structural designs and buildings, such as those found at Tift Campus.
"We envision the newly renovated Tift Campus will become the center of what Governor

Mrs. Carey Russell, wife of Forsyth city councilman Lamar Russell, expresses her excitement of the GDC move to her alma mater, Tift College , in Forsyth, Ga.

A Learning Organization: Perdue has proudly proclaimed to People are the Centerpiece be `State Office South,'" Donald
said.

(above) Forsyth Mayor Jimmy Pace (l) speaks with architect Tony Aeck (c) and Forsyth Downtown Development Director, Vincente Williams on the positive economic impact the GDC move will have on the Forsyth-Monroe County community.

Continuation . . .

Page 2

News and Facts to Keep You Informed - January 2007

SPECIAL KUDOS!
The unusual partnership of Judge and inmate makes for success in ensuring the message is delivered!
Judge Steven Teske and volunteer inmates of the Atlanta Transitional Center give an "in-your-face" perspective of life behind bars.
Project H.I.P., founded in October 2004 by Clayton County Juvenile Court Officers and volunteers, is on a mission to divert youth from future criminal activity through educational motivation. Including GDC inmates testimonies.
Research shows that scared straight methods do not work.
By being informative, rather than confrontational, Project H.I.P. has the ability to reach youth who are at serious risk of actually going to jail or prison. Both the Choose Freedom Campaign and Project H.I.P. use GDC inmates to educate youth about the harsh realities of a delinquent lifestyle -specifically the realities of prison.
Inmates focus on the path they took and the choices they made that led to jail, such as drug use/distribution, gang affiliation and related crimes, the negative psychological effects of "gang" lifestyle, and their choice to drop out of school. Overall, Project H.I.P.'s main goal is to reduce the recidivism rate of youth by educating youth to change.

CCaammppaaiiggnn TTaakkeess OOnn MMeetthh!! GGaanngg VViioolleennccee!!
hoose This year marks the beginning of the third year of the Choose Freedom community outreach campaign. This is a special collaboration between the Office of the Governor, the Children's Youth Coordinating Council, the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice, the Georgia Department of Corrections and a host of local schools and community groups across the state. reedom

"Make the Right Choice.

Choose Freedom."

Since its inception, one of GDC's

community partners, Judge Steven C.

Teske, of the Clayton County Juvenile

Court, has included GDC inmates'

testimonials in his special juvenile

intervention program, Project H.I.P.

Working with Judge Teske, the Corrections Division and the Office of Public Affairs have

coordinated both in-school and after-school events reaching more than, 500 "at-risk" youth

who reside in Clayton County.

This year Judge Teske has invited the Choose Freedom program to partner with Project

H.I.P. in Clayton County's middle schools and high schools as well as his evening reporting

center

program for juvenile offenders.
2007 Declared Time

of

Change

Visit our website at www.dcor.state.ga.us
Commissioner: James E. Donald
Public Affairs Director: Yolanda E. Thompson
Managing Editor: Tracy J. Smith
Photographers/contributors: Paul Czachowski Mallie McCord Tracy J. Smith Please direct comments or questions to:
Office of Public Affairs 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. East Tower, Suite 864 Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Phone: 404-656-9772 Fax: 404-656-6434 Email: GDCinfo@dcor.state.ga.us

HeartBound Ministries

Distributes New Audio Bible

Thirty-seven prisons in Georgia's

Department of Corrections will soon

receive a copy of the country's fastest-

selling audio Bible to date. Zondervan,

the world's leading Christian communications company, is

donating 40 copies of Inspired By ... The Bible Experience to

HeartBound Ministries, a non-profit outreach organization that supports

and equips Georgia prison chaplains and ministers to foster successful transitions back into society.

Joe Shelton, (r), a HeartBound founding volunteer, listens to a GDC inmate at a

HeartBound is expected to begin using it in its ministry programs immediately.

recent holiday event.

Partnering to Combat Recidivism one heart at a time

"Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners..."

Hebrews 13:3 Zondervan and HeartBound Ministries' goal for Inspired By ... The Bible Experience
is to foster inmate study groups that will listen to the audio Bible while participants read along. In addition to the audio Bibles, HeartBound will provide chaplains with a Certificate of Completion for inmates who participate and listen to the entire New Testament.
"The chaplain system is vital to the correctional process and HeartBound Ministries is integral to delivering the transformative message of Christ to inmates in the Georgia Department of Corrections," said Paul Caminiti, vice president and publisher of Bibles at Zondervan. "Our mission at Zondervan is to engage people with the Bible, and we hope our donation of Inspired By ... The Bible Experience will help Georgia inmates experience the Word of God like never before."
Released in October 2006, Inspired By ... The Bible Experience is the fastest-selling audio Bible to date and the most ambitious audio dramatization of the Bible ever recorded. The product features more than 200 renowned celebrities, including Tyler Perry, Samuel L. Jackson as God, Blair Underwood as Jesus, Angela Bassett as Esther and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Judas, as well as renowned clergy and Christian leaders, including Atlanta-based Bishop Eddie Long.

WANT TO HEAR MORE?
To arrange for an appearance by the Atlanta Transitional Center choir, contact Climon Nix, the center's chaplain, at 404-206-5128.

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By Carlos Campos, ccampos@ajc.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/24/06
{Ghese are not your typical choirboys.
They are convicted felons --- murderers, burglars, armed robbers, dope dealers and thieves. Some of them bear the hard edge and the scars from a quarter-century of fighting for survival behind bars.

But they have a passion and talent for singing and they use that gift to discourage others

from following in their footsteps.

Inmate James Stewart sings in a recent performance of the Atlanta Transi-

The 15 men make up the

tional Choir, participating in the state's "Choose Freedom" campaign. Photos by Ben Gray/staff

Atlanta Transitional Center

"I've taken," said Teasley, of Dalton. "I've had two chil-

Choir. The transitional

dren that grew up without me."

center is a prison of sorts,

Inmate James Stewart of the Mechanicsville neighborhood

although it is far more re-

near Turner Field in Atlanta said singing in the choir gives

laxed than a traditional

him a sense of accomplishment.

prison surrounded by razor

"It's really been a great blessing to be able to get back into

wire. Though the inmates

society," said Stewart, serving a five-year sentence for

are all serving sentences

burglary. "And be a contributor to society and not a liabil-

for serious crimes, many of

ity."

them are allowed to leave

"Stewart said getting sent to prison inspired him to turn

the center during the day to

his life around. But "I would tell a kid that it's not a place

work, either performing

for them to want to be."

duties for the state or for

Darlene McDonald of Johns Creek attended the perform-

private companies. They've

ance with her 16-year-old son, Kyle, a student at North-

earned the prison system's

view High School.

trust that they will return to

"It was an experience we're not going to get on a Sunday

the center every night.

morning here, so it was good for us," Darlene McDonald

said.

Kyle said the performance was a welcome change from

Choir member Omar Howard speaks at a performance in Roswell, noting how hard it is to be away from family at Christmas. Below right--Choyce Butler (c) prays with Jeanne Patterson (l) and Mari Ann Perusek after a performance.

the "dull" church music he's accustomed to. He agreed

that the message is important for young people every-

The Department of Corrections formed the choir as part of its "Choose Free-

where.

dom" campaign to warn youngsters of the perils of a life of crime that leads

to prison. With more than 53,000 men and women in prison in Georgia ---

the nation's fifth-largest inmate population --- the department is hoping such

community outreach can reduce the number of people entering its custody

every year.

This is far from "Scared Straight." The choir's mission is not to frighten

young people with tales of gang fights, sexual assaults, stabbings, loneliness,

despair and other prison nightmares. Instead the men sing, perform skits and

talk about their love of Christ, the bad choices they made and doing the right

thing before it's too late. Often performing in churches, they also bring a

message of redemption through Christianity. Some of the choir members

also speak to schoolchildren.

On a recent weeknight, the choir belted out Christmas standards at North-

minster Presbyterian Church in Roswell, just down the street from some of

metro Atlanta's toniest neighborhoods.

Carolyn Christie, director of Christian education for Northminster, said the

area's affluence does not insulate its young people from trouble. The thing about families that are well-to-do is they have the ability to hide those things --- they can send their kids to rehab, things like that,"

Yolanda Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said the spread of methamphetamine abuse has helped redefine who's at risk. "When you consider that where crime lives is changing across Georgia, that the

Christie said. "These kids go to parties, and they have the same choices --- meth epidemic is moving the faces and places of crime beyond the inner city, it

to drink and drive, do drugs and have sex --- that normal 'at risk' kids have." makes sense to reach out to youth who are at risk before they get into trouble,"

At Northminster's Wednesday night fellowship dinner, the men recently

Thompson said. "The message to 'Choose Freedom' is easier to believe when it

opened with a brief Scripture reading, then launched into "Joy to the World" is delivered by inmates."

and "O Come All Ye Faithful," accompanied by a piano. They then per-

The men of the choir perform wearing casual clothes --- jeans, khaki pants,

formed original songs accompanied by synthesized keyboard tracks.

colorful polo shirts, plaid button-downs --- not uniforms. They are not led

One of the most rousing songs is called "Lead Me," which includes a soulful around in handcuffs. After the performance, they mingle with congregants,

rendition of "The Lord's Prayer" mixed with a little R&B and rap. The men chatting in a relaxed setting.

sway in unison, clap their hands and snap their fingers.

The only indication these are inmates is the lone prison guard keeping a watch-

Among them is Chris Teasley, sent to prison for murder in 1982. Teasley is a ful eye in a corner and the two state transport vans outside with bars in the win-

former prison barber who said he was once so racist he refused to cut black dows.

men's hair. Now he is one of two white men who sing with 13 black men in a "A lot of us made the wrong choice," said inmate Omar Howard, serving a

prison choir.

prison term for armed robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and other crimes.

"The people that I hated the most were the people that God kept putting in "And that's why we're here now. This might be the hardest time of the year be-

my life," Teasley said.

cause I'm not with my family."

Teasley said he's been changed by Christ, and singing in the choir is a way Howard, his voice heavy, turns to the men behind him and asks, "How many

for him of "giving back." He said he hopes somebody can learn from his

Christmases have you missed?"

mistakes.

"Twenty-five" comes the somber answer from Teasley, the inmate serving a life

sentence for murder. "Thirteen," says another. "Nineteen," says a third.

Original article appeared in the Christmas Eve Edition of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. For additional PAO info contact, Director Yolanda Thompson.

Later, after wringing as much time as they could out of their appearance, they filed out of the church and back into the van for the drive back to prison.