From the Inside Out
On May 22, 2025, the Class of 2025 received their bachelorās degrees inside Handlon Correctional Facility.
Recognizing Potential
A couple of years ago Alec Piper had seemingly lost all hope.
At the time, Piper, who is serving a lengthy sentence at the Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia, Michigan,
was a member of the Adaptive Skills Residential Program (ASRP)āa program for prisoners who have significant limitations in adaptive functioning due to a developmental disability or a chronic brain disorder.
āIt was a period of my life where I was in a dark space.ā This is the state Piper found himself in a short time ago when Bob Horton ā22, a man wearing prison blues just like him, spoke into his life.
Horton, an alum of the ĆŪĢŅapp Prison Initiative (CPI), worked as a mentor within the ASRP. ĆŪĢŅapp mentors, along with other ASRP supports like training in life skills, self-care, and community responsibility, help bridge gaps needed for program participants to be successful in prison.
āHe told me I was more than just a convict, that I could achieve things,ā says Piper of Horton. āI responded, āThatās crazy, youāre silly.āā
Piperās initial response to Hortonās encouragement is typical. āPrison is every man for himself,ā explains Piper. Hortonās words to Piper felt countercultural, outside his imagination. āBob felt called to prove me wrongāto show me that there was something I could do with my life,ā Piper says.
Finding Purpose
Piperās experience illustrates how ĆŪĢŅapp mentors have been able to connect to ASRP participants in ways that others cannot. Their compassion and care help to round out a full team of support from psychologists, social workers, therapists, medical staff, and others.
Heather Woodin, a licensed psychologist in the Michigan Department of Corrections, has spent nearly 20 years helping inmates like Piper, including for the past two years at Handlon Correctional Facility. Though she serves an important role, she is keenly aware of her limitations within this environment. āI think a lot of times the people I work with see me as the person who canāt relate to them,ā Woodin says. āOne of my fears coming to prison as a therapist was figuring out how to give hope to someone who is serving life. So, I think one of the things weāve found is the importance of giving people who are serving so much time a purpose.ā
And thatās at the heart of the ĆŪĢŅapp Prison Initiativeās missionāto help inmates see themselves as image bearers of God and to equip them to be agents of renewal wherever they are.
Sharing Knowledge
With new knowledge and the sense of purpose their bachelor of arts degrees in faith and community leadership confer, āWe discovered that these guys are eager to go out and do really good work and emerge as leaders,ā says Todd Cioffi, CPIās senior adviser. In addition to supporting existing programming, graduates are also co-creating new pathways to help inmates who are returning to society. One example is the Breaking the Chains curriculum, which was developed by CPI students, ĆŪĢŅapp faculty, and Michigan Department of Corrections officers. This curriculum is not only being used at Handlon but also being exported elsewhere.
āWe started to see real success with program graduates helping guys parole successfully without the burden of substance abuse. Alumni trained in our program at Handlon are now being sent to other prisons and reproducing it, but in such a way that it makes sense for each particular prison,ā Cioffi says. In fact, grads have been transferred in teams to serve in the palliative care unit in Jackson, the veterans unit in Saginaw, and to support other institutions of higher education as they launch new prison education programsā13 universities now offer college courses inside Michiganās prisons.
Restoring Hope
While the impact can be seen on a statewide level, it all comes back to individual stories. āThe research is clear that education is transformational to incarcerated individuals,ā says Heidi Washington, director of the Michigan Department of Corrections. āWe are proud of our students who choose to take the next step in their education.ā
Cioffi agrees. āWhat if you found yourself incarcerated with a serious mental health challenge doing years separated from your community, and all of a sudden your life opens up and becomes alive again?ā
Lisa Schra, executive director of CPI, says the restorative power of finding personal purpose through access to education extends beyond prison walls, too. āI think one of the unexpected outcomes of the work is that guys are actually rebuilding relationships with family members.ā
āWe see it time and time again where they understand in new ways what happened, maybe some of the influences of why it happened, but now theyāre also motivated from Christian love to say that I want to do something different now.ā
Imagining a Better Future
Piper remembers the way Horton and two other CPI alumni invested in him, assuring him of his potential, encouraging him to apply to the ĆŪĢŅapp program, and then helping him get ready. He recently completed his first year and is finding the journey more fulfilling than even he could have anticipated.
āI talked to my stepdad on the phone ... and this time he told me he was proud of me. I think that was the first time he ever said that to me,ā wrote Piper in his end-of-year reflection. āI imagine my parents seeing me doing the work at ĆŪĢŅapp with smiles on their faces. It feels good to do something that you know makes your parents proud.ā
Piper also regards the men in the ASRP unit as family and is committed to inspiring his peers to dream bigger, just as alumni of the CPI program did for him. āI hope to give them hope, to show they can do it, too,ā Piper says.
āI remember Bob saying to me, āWouldnāt it be cool to be mentored and then become a mentor and continue this cycle?ā That was a dream. Now, thatās my plan.ā