Katrina Flinn as chair for the day introduced us to Mandy Baxter from the Melbourne City Mission.

Image

Mandy explained that this charitable group ( funded by donation) has a series of programs linked under the broad scope of its activities.  It states that  "From children living with a disability, or young people with nowhere to call home, to people who need assistance into education or employment, we’ll be there, working alongside them, so they can build a better future for themselves. We help people find their own path to independence, providing them with the support they need along the way."

"Mates for Inmates" is a new venture under its Justice Programs.  It centres on the restoration of current prison serving offenders-presently only women.  It has a second aim too, to rehabilitate homeless dogs.  Mandy described how these two aims were combined in short by introducing stray dogs to the prison environment where they are cared  for and trained by the prisoners supported by regular dog handlers.  Once trained the dog does not become a prison fixture but instead finds an external owner/home.

Mandy mentioned  the web site www.matesforinmates.com.au    That's "Amber" one of the current mates.Image

 

 

 

The Melbourne Mission Centre says it all.  Not only does the program aim to rehabilitate these homeless dogs and increase their adoptability by providing them with training and love, it also rehabilitates the women by giving them responsibility, a sense of purpose and providing them with future opportunity for employment. 

Many of the women offenders and those targeted here, Mandy recounted, have been driven by poverty, emotional isolation, even an abusive family background.   The experience opens them to, for example, learning about compassion, love, teamwork, change, self esteem, and provides insight to a range of life skills for happily participating in and dealing with the community.  

Mandy listed some sobering facts :-

On average a prisoners costs $267 per day

The median prison term is 3.3 years

80% of offending women have children.

The "Mates for Inmates" program, which parallels a USA one "Pups for Prisons" is perceived to have a high probability for achieving rehabilitation and the early efforts are encouraging.