2024 Impact Report

Transforming Jail Ministries staff oversees the work of 34 volunteer chaplains and over 50 worship teams who minister within Hamilton County. Additionally, TJM serves as the training and credentialing center for clergy wishing to gain access to many correctional and treatment facilities in Hamilton County, saving tax dollars for Hamilton County taxpayers. Our total volunteer roster includes roughly 250 individuals that require regular servicing.

Major Activities/Accomplishments

• Our chaplains fulfilled over 3,100 inmate requests in 2024, consisting of requests for prayer, religious literature, rosaries, reading glasses, and grief intervention. On top of those inmate requests sent in through kiosks, our chaplains also visited over 2,800 additional times with inmates who requested ongoing visits and distributed over 3,800 Bibles and other religious books and devotionals.

• Our reading glasses ministry fulfilled more than 500 requests for pairs of glasses to inmates.

• We restarted Worship Services at the Hamilton County Justice Center in September, providing training for all Worship Teams beforehand, including the HCSO Civilian In-Service Training. Based on Worship Team Leader reports, the number of inmates in attendance at Worship Services from September-December was over 1,500.

• We hired a new Reentry Discipleship Coordinator, Jon Weiner, who is putting a team together to help inmates prepare for when they are released. Jon started in a part-time capacity in March and full-time in November, and we’ve already seen great fruit. The reentry team has met with over 300 different inmates and coordinated drug and alcohol treatment for over 35 people with a half dozen treatment centers. The team has already coordinated housing and recovery housing programs for 15 people with many applications currently pending and has helped 7 people get new jobs upon leaving the Justice Center.

• TJM worked with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department on background checks (required every two years), badges for our volunteers, and fulfilled continuing education requirements for our volunteers.

• We onboarded 11 new chaplains, including 7 focused on reentry and 1 focused on Spanish-speaking inmates.

• We educated, monitored, and mentored our volunteers about best practices and protocols in county facilities to protect and cultivate the privilege that TJM has been granted by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department. As a result, our volunteers can offer God’s message of hope to those incarcerated in the Hamilton County jails in accordance with county policies and ethical guidelines. As part of this, we led a volunteer gathering at Hartzell United Methodist Church to build community, share updates, and discuss best practices. We also led quarterly trainings for our Clergy Contact Visiting program, training 29 local clergy members. Our evaluations from those trainings averaged a score of 4.9 out of 5.

• “Cookies at Christmas” sourced, packaged, and delivered over 10,000 cookies to roughly 1,000 inmates and 200 sheriff’s deputies at Christmas.

• The Executive Director served as a consultant to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department on religious matters.

Financials

TJM is a 501 (c) (3) organization. Funding comes from 4 major sources – The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department, local churches and religious organizations, individual donations, and grants.

• 2024 revenues - $142,439.16

• 2024 expenses - $128,372.13