Prison Aftercare Ministries, which mentors former jail and prison inmates, could use a little guidance itself.

The 10-year-old program finds itself in transition, said Wayne Rideout, a member of the group's board.

Rideout, a social worker who serves as a lay preacher at a small church in rural Armstrong County, said the group is looking to change from an informal group of volunteers to a more structured organization.

“If you go to Catholic Charities, they understand themselves to be a social services agency, and they operate like that,” said Rideout. “They keep records, they have an intake process and they open and close cases.”

“Our model is that of the early disciples, a bunch of committed Christians who do whatever is in front of us. There is no formal process to open or close cases,” Rideout said.

The group was founded by the late Edwin Carlson, a retired Presbyterian missionary who was active in many community service organizations.

It's mission, said Rideout, is to help former inmates resume life outside of jail with help in finding housing, a job, counseling or treatment.

“If their basic needs are met, they don't have to return to their criminal behavior that can land them in jail again,” said Rideout.

“The problem with inmates is that they have no place to go. They are literally thrown out into the street,” said Judi Baglier, a grief counselor at the Butler County Prison and ministries board member currently on a leave of absence.

“They go back to their old friends and they re-offend,” she said.

“The range of acts of mentoring can range from putting them up in a motel overnight to helping them get a job and a place to live,” said Rideout.

“The need is staggering, but we are doing all we can,” said the Rev. John Pistorius, pastor of St. John's Reformed Church in Chicora and executive director of the ministries board.

Pistorius said the group would like to do more and reach more former inmates, but there is a need for more mentors and more money.

“Our flexibility is very great,” said Rideout. “The bad part is we never have a lot of money because we don't getgrants.”

“We are driving to explore being more of a social services agency to have the option of getting a substantial amount of money, maybe set up a housing program of our own. We can't do that right now because our funds are very limited,” Rideout said.

“We've trained a lot of people on how to be mentors, but we haven't developed our board of directors, which is really what we can do right now,” said Rideout.

“We need more volunteers and to formally incorporate and get our nonprofit status,” said the Rev. Mary Kitchen, pastor of North Butler Presbyterian Church in Chicora and the ministries' secretary.

“We've gotten by on the gifts and kindnesses of churches and individuals,” said Pistorius. “We are looking for business people who have a heart and would be willing to sit on the board.”

“I think as we develop our plan is to serve as many people as possible. That was the founder's vision, taking it beyond just one man or two men or five men helping others,” said Pistorius.

“Ed Carlson had a list of 25 former prison residents, the rest of us have a far smaller caseload. I have about five, but we are keeping abreast of Ed's list,” said Kitchen.

“We are looking to help as many people as possible,” said Pistorius. “To handle as many people as need to be helped, we are going to have to balance between funding and volunteers.”

One person Prison Aftercare Ministries helped was Robert Tatsch of Lyndora.

Tatsch said he was released from state prison in May 2012. He was homeless in January of this year.

“I could have gone down the wrong path but he (Carlson) helped me keep my spirit up and helped my confidence.”

Now with a job and a home, Tatsch said he, in turn, is mentoring two former inmates.

“No one can fill Ed's shoes, but I can follow in his footsteps,” said Tatsch.

“There's always a turnover,” said Kitchen. “We are always inviting new people to come.”

“It's kind of draining to work with former prison residents,” she said. “Their needs can be rather extreme at times, but the help we give can make a difference.”

“We're very committed to the cause, what we have been doing and what we can do differently,” said Rideout.

“We can approach change in a methodical way, we can reinvigorate the organization. We can have something quite grand,” said Rideout.

To volunteer for Prison Aftercare Ministries, call Wayne Rideout at 412-889-2492