Inside/Out Prison Chaplaincy is a volunteer based organisation. We don’t receive any Government funding for our Inside/Out Connection service, but we do receive a small grant from Queensland Corrective Services towards the administration of our chaplains who operate inside (and out) of the State’s jails. In order to provide these two services, the Association must raise an additional $150,o00 annually.
Through sponsorship of IOPC; you can directly facilitate the recruiting, training, equipping, supervising and mentoring of IOPC’s chaplains and mentors.
Additionally, IOPC is committed to raising public awareness about the plight of prisoners, and to educate Christians (and church bodies as a whole) on how to intelligently and actively respond to them – especially to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are “behind bars.” Minimal funding also goes towards this activity.
Why Sponsor IOPC?
We recognise there are many deserving charities who are seeking your support in sponsorship. We also recognise that a) people are generally sympathetic to the plight of orphans in poverty, and who wouldn’t be? and b) people feel that prisoners are not considered “needy” or “deserving” of support. In fact, most people consider prisoners as problems, who should be kept away from society, as far away as possible, for as long as possible.
But we recognise that prisoners are not problems – PRISONERS ARE PEOPLE – people who, without support, will continue to cause “problems” in our society. And by our society, we mean Queensland.
The bottom line
For each 18 y.o. prisoner who, upon release, is able to successfully reintegrate into a community of faith – a church – where they will receive wholistic support; society as a whole, potentially saves a whopping $1.5 million dollars. How so? Simple. Statistically speaking, the average 18 y.o. prisoner will continue to go in and out of prison, until the age of 40, at the cost to society of $187.86* per day. (This does not include the costs incurred in extra police, solicitors and medical staff nor the insurance claims which result from the damage done to individuals, premises and businesses).
For every 18 y.o. who we are able to support /mentor and assist in staying crime free, Queensland potentially saves $187.86 PER DAY. This means our taxes can be spent on other things… like schools, hospitals, roads, and parklands.
So, through your support of our organisation, you will be making a direct impact on the plight of prisoners in Queensland and helping to make a difference in our society and our economic future.
How to financially partner with us
We have a couple of payment options available:
Direct Deposit/EFT
Account Name: Baptist Union of Qld T/A Carinity Donations
BSB: 014002
Account Number: 836 139 088
Credit Card Donations
Go to: www.carinity.org.au/donations – Select ‘other specific donation’ and type ‘Inside Out Prison Chaplaincy’ into the text box
All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
* this figure is taken directly from the Department of Community Safety, Annual Report, p41, downloadable in full here . (Warning, the file is 1.49mb in size and may take a while on slow connections.)