PTFM matches Christian volunteers with inmates for visits and mentoring friendships. These matches are made man to man, woman to woman, or couple to inmate.

 

• We visit provincial and federal institutions in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, working and supporting the work  of the chaplains. We introduce the ministry to the inmates and show the love of Christ and acceptance to the men and women. During these visits we usually share in a chapel service or a fellowship time. During these visits we build positive relationships with the resident chaplain they are our point of contact for the men and women but also they share a wealth of knowledge that we cannot possibly have on our own.
• We write to inmates while they are waiting for their match and actually writing between visits is the key to building the relationship with the match.
• We act as a resource on external support services that may be available to the offender upon release. These resources include:
  • welcoming churches that want to come alongside as the ex-offender re-integrates back into a community;
  • addictions programs outside of the usual ones available,
  • housing sources and so much more.

These resources continue to build as our ministry grows and the needs of our clients are met. Ultimately we want to see Restorative Justice for all parties affected by crime and violence. We pray that our ministry will bring about lower recidivism rates in our communities.

Our Scholarship:
One of our mandates as a ministry is to help an ex-offender be able to complete or continue their education so that they ultimately will rise above circumstances and education to be able to support themselves and their families. In order to support this we have committed to building a scholarship fund for mentored client graduates, meaning as they move away from being mentored and want to return to school or continue their education we will be able to offer a unique scholarship only for ex-offenders that have been mentored through Pathways to Freedom. This scholarship fund is in its infancy and we are not yet able to offer this to a client but we continue to seek God for a committee to administer this part of our program along with the administrative guidelines for the scholarship fund. Guidelines and application process is being written by a team on the board.(2013)