Prisonist.org – the Blog

WHITE COLLAR SUPPORT GROUP TO HOLD MILESTONE 350TH MEETING: White Collar Criminal Justice Community Continues to Expand Resources and Reach, March 6, 2023, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT

WHITE COLLAR SUPPORT GROUP TO HOLD MILESTONE 350TH MEETING: White Collar Criminal Justice Community Continues to Expand Resources and Reach, March 6, 2023, 7 pm ET, 4 pm PT

Greenwich, CT (March 6, 2023): Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry devoted to those navigating the white collar criminal justice system, will hold its 350th weekly White Collar Support Group meeting online on Zoom on Monday, March 6, 2023. ...

read more
Thank You for your Support on

Thank You for your Support on

#GivingTuesday November 29, 2022 and for Your Holiday and Year-end Giving! Thank You for your Support on #GivingTuesday November 29, 2022 and for Your Holiday and Year-end Giving! We have no dues or fees but we do have expenses! We are a community of individuals and...

read more
Hurricane Ian Fraud Alert! Entrepreneur Article Redux: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud – 7 Things to Know When Taking Disaster Relief Money: by Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.

Hurricane Ian Fraud Alert! Entrepreneur Article Redux: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud – 7 Things to Know When Taking Disaster Relief Money: by Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.

Originally published in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, this was Entrepreneur's #4 most viewed article of 2020.- Jeff Don’t let desperation cloud your judgment. Jeff Grant ____________________ Reprinted from Entrepreneur.com, link here. In the months...

read more
Book Excerpt: “The Logistics of Suicide,” by Jeff Grant, Chapter 13 from “Suicide and its Impact on the Criminal Justice System,” Edited by Elizabeth Kelley and Francesca Flood

Book Excerpt: “The Logistics of Suicide,” by Jeff Grant, Chapter 13 from “Suicide and its Impact on the Criminal Justice System,” Edited by Elizabeth Kelley and Francesca Flood

Thank you Elizabeth and Francesca for this opportunity to be of service to our community. - Jeff Excerpt: "The Logistics of Suicide," by Jeff Grant "It’s taken me years to unravel what happened on the night of my suicide attempt in July 2002.  Even now I’m sure that I...

read more
Poem: Louis the Coin, by Ravi Shankar

Poem: Louis the Coin, by Ravi Shankar

Louis the Coin Ravi Shankar ____________ Decades before a cadre of Secret Service agents and New Jersey gaming troopers surveilled, busted him in the parking garage of Caesars Atlantic City with a Milano red Honda Civic with a trunk stuffed full of eight hundred lbs....

read more
The New Yorker: The Big House: Life After White Collar Crime, by Evan Osnos. Our White Collar Support Group is Featured in this Article, Aug. 30, 2021 Issue

The New Yorker: The Big House: Life After White Collar Crime, by Evan Osnos. Our White Collar Support Group is Featured in this Article, Aug. 30, 2021 Issue

Reprinted from The New Yorker, August 30, 2021 issue. In the nineties, Jeff Grant had a law firm in Westchester County, a seat on the local school board, and an owner­ ship stake in a bistro called, if you’ll for­ give the irony, the Good Life. He was in his early...

read more
Business Insider: How a Lawyer Who Went to Prison for 9/11-related Fraud got his Law License Back and Became an Ordained Minister Along the Way, by Peter Coutu, July 27, 2021

Business Insider: How a Lawyer Who Went to Prison for 9/11-related Fraud got his Law License Back and Became an Ordained Minister Along the Way, by Peter Coutu, July 27, 2021

By Peter Coutu. Reprinted from BusinessInsider.com, July 27, 2021 After nearly two decades without practicing, Jeff Grant got his law license back this May. He served over a year in prison for lying about office space to get federal relief money after 9/11. He then...

read more
Just Released, by Fellow Traveler Jeff Grant: The Story of My Release from Prison 14 Years Ago Today, June 5, 2007. An Excerpt from My Book, “Down & Out in Greenwich CT: The Art of Surviving Prison”.

Just Released, by Fellow Traveler Jeff Grant: The Story of My Release from Prison 14 Years Ago Today, June 5, 2007. An Excerpt from My Book, “Down & Out in Greenwich CT: The Art of Surviving Prison”.

Chapter Twelve Just Released Watkinson House was a huge brick Federal Style house that used to be the mansion of the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Connecticut.  Once a fashionable address, it was located directly across the street from the headquarters the...

read more
White Collar Supoort Group Blog: Fellow Traveler Craig Stanland, Author of Blank Canvas/ Author Craig Stanland Interviewed on White Collar Week Podcast with Jeff Grant

White Collar Supoort Group Blog: Fellow Traveler Craig Stanland, Author of Blank Canvas/ Author Craig Stanland Interviewed on White Collar Week Podcast with Jeff Grant

Congratulations to our friend Craig Stanland on the publishing of his first book, "Blank Canvas: How I Reinvented My Life After Prison"! Craig is a powerful example of how to come back from the depths of professional and personal destruction and despair, survive and...

read more
The Cookie Thief, A Poem by Valerie Cox

The Cookie Thief, A Poem by Valerie Cox

The Cookie Thief by Valerie Cox A woman was waiting at an airport one night, with several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shops, bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop. She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,...

read more
Letters from Prison: Scott Farah

Letters from Prison: Scott Farah

Scott Farah is currently incarcerated in the Satellite Camp at FCI Loretto in Cresson, Pennsylvania. He is a Member-in-Absentia of our online White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings. We will celebrate our 250th weekly meeting on Monday, March 29,...

read more
Journeys in Film: Just Mercy

Journeys in Film: Just Mercy

Our great friend, Will Nix, is a Member of the Advisory Board of Journeys in Film. Will sent us information about how teachers can share the movie, Just Mercy, with their students at no cost. Included is a free Curriculum Guide and Student Packet. Thank you Will and...

read more
Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund. Feat. Seth Williams, Jacqueline Polverari & Bill Baroni

Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund. Feat. Seth Williams, Jacqueline Polverari & Bill Baroni

Reprinted from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Front Page, Oct. 18, 2020. Thinking about stealing the government loan money you received in pandemic help? Before you do, listen to Jeff Grant’s story. After his opioid addiction, his theft of U.S. loan funds, and a federal...

read more
“Smacked”: A Book Review from Inside Prison

“Smacked”: A Book Review from Inside Prison

We sent copies of Eilene Zimmerman's important new book, "Smacked: A Story of White Collar Ambition, Addiction and Tragedy," to our White Collar Support Group members who are currently in prison, and asked them to write reviews to post on prisonist.org. Below is Basia...

read more
The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant: Guest Tiheba Bain, Women’s Incarceration Advocate, Fri., March 20, 2020

The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant: Guest Tiheba Bain, Women’s Incarceration Advocate, Fri., March 20, 2020

On Friday, March 20, 2020, 9 am ET, Tiheba Bain was our guest on the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – The Voice of Criminal Justice. Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed and podcast 24/7 everywhere,...

read more
Podcast: ReEntryUSA: Get Free & Stay Free Podcast with Host Rich Jacobs, Guests: Jeff Grant, Glenn E. Martin, Jeffrey Abramowitz, David Garlock, Dirk Van Velsen & Brandon J. Flood

Podcast: ReEntryUSA: Get Free & Stay Free Podcast with Host Rich Jacobs, Guests: Jeff Grant, Glenn E. Martin, Jeffrey Abramowitz, David Garlock, Dirk Van Velsen & Brandon J. Flood

ReEntryUSA.com: Hope & Information for the Current and Formerly Incarcerated Jeff Grant Interview on SoundCloud: Glenn E, Martin, Jeffrey Abramowitz, David Garlock, Dirk Van Velzen and Brandon J. Flood Interviews on SoundCloud:...

read more
Dear Jeff: The Email That Left Me Speechless

Dear Jeff: The Email That Left Me Speechless

I received this email from a new member of our Confidential Online White Collar Support Group from Ohio. I was so moved that I had to share it with you. This is exactly why I became a minister to those with white collar and other nonviolent criminal justice issues....

read more
New Haven Independent: The Problem With Punishment

New Haven Independent: The Problem With Punishment

By Thomas Breen, Reprinted from the New Haven Independent, April 30, 2019 Philosopher Gregg Caruso has one big problem with punishment: It doesn’t work. In a world where social determinants like poverty, abuse, and malnutrition play a much larger role than individual...

read more
Forbes: White-Collar Defendants Have A Place To Go For Support, by Walt Pavlo. Progressive Prison Ministries Celebrates its 150th Online White Collar Support Group Meeting.

Forbes: White-Collar Defendants Have A Place To Go For Support, by Walt Pavlo. Progressive Prison Ministries Celebrates its 150th Online White Collar Support Group Meeting.

By Walt Pavlo, Reprinted from Forbes.com, April 16, 2019 White collar defendants (felons) face a number of obstacles. Many face their past demons and attempt to make amends with victims, family and friends. It is a difficult road and one where there are few...

read more
New Haven Independent: Glenn E. Martin, Criminal Justice Crusader, gives his first interview since leaving JustLeadershipUSA, on Criminal Justice Insider radio with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant.

New Haven Independent: Glenn E. Martin, Criminal Justice Crusader, gives his first interview since leaving JustLeadershipUSA, on Criminal Justice Insider radio with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant.

By Tom Breen, Reprinted from New Haven Independent, Dec. 13, 2018 Glenn E. Martin spent eight years of his youth sticking up jewelry stores. He spent nearly four years of his adulthood raising tens of millions of dollars to help end mass incarceration. In Martin’s...

read more
We were Featured on Inc.com, Feb. 22, 2016

We were Featured on Inc.com, Feb. 22, 2016

Inc.: What Successful Entrepreneurs and Successful Criminals Have in Common, By Tim Askew The distance between the criminal and the successful entrepreneur is not so very far. ____________________ I found this line in a recent John Grisham bestseller.  "Prisons are...

read more
We were Featured on Inc.com, Oct. 2, 2017

We were Featured on Inc.com, Oct. 2, 2017

Inc.com: Entrepreneurship as Precursor to Addiction: The Business Crisis of Opiates, By Tim Askew The first paragraph of Scott Peck's book The Road Less Traveled says simply, "Life is difficult." That's certainly true. For the Buddha suffering was the first rule of...

read more
Nonprofits are One Solution to the CT Budget Crisis

Nonprofits are One Solution to the CT Budget Crisis

Congratulations to Family ReEntry Directors Tony Corso and Fred Hodges for your contributions to the Alliance's video explaining the efficiency, effectiveness and cost savings that Connecticut nonprofits provide. Fred has major screen time in this ad. We urge all to...

read more
Annual Back to School Drive for Children & Youth

Annual Back to School Drive for Children & Youth

Family ReEntry Youth is currently collecting donations for our Annual Back to School Drive for children & youth involved with our programs. For the last six years, we have launched a large scale collection for new backpacks and school supplies for youth served at...

read more
Correcting Corrections in Connecticut

Correcting Corrections in Connecticut

By Steve Hawkins -- NB: This is part of a series of interviews conducted by Steve Hawkins, president of the Coalition for Public Safety, featuring individuals taking the initiative to change the justice system within their sphere of influence. How deeply should brain...

read more
What does it mean to be a father?

What does it mean to be a father?

Composed by Fathers for Change client and IPV-FAIR Clinician Sonya Klein --   What does it mean to be a father? It means everything... I’m only here because I need to know they are okay Fathers... Console their kids Make sure their needs are met Show them how to...

read more
Envisioning a First Chance Society

Envisioning a First Chance Society

by Jeff Grant, JD, M Div & Sarah Diamond, PhD --   "Supporting a Second Chance Society with First Chance Opportunities" Last fall, the Directors of Family ReEntry viewed a TED Talk by Dan Pallotta titled, "The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong."  In...

read more
What’s the Use of Regret?

What’s the Use of Regret?

Gordon Marino, The New York Times -- Cover art: Leigh Wells -- Originally Published in THE STONE, Nov. 12, 2016 -- Some thinkers have portrayed regret as a humanizing emotion. The 20th-century moral philosopher Bernard Williams pointed out that, in instances where a...

read more
The PTSD I Couldn’t See

The PTSD I Couldn’t See

By Amy Oestreicher, Guest Blogger --   Originally Published Feb. 14, 2017 -- I grew up thinking an “illness” was either a fever or croup. Illness was a stuffy nose – a sick-day, an excuse to miss a day of school. At 18 years old, “illness” took on an entirely...

read more
Child Of An Incarcerated Parent

Child Of An Incarcerated Parent

by Melissa Tanis --   Reprinted from Prisonist.org, Jan. 22, 2015 --     We asked Melissa to write a guest blog for prisonist.org after she contacted us looking for a job.  She sent us one of the most poignant, movingand authentic pieces we have everhad...

read more
Story of a Woman Returning from Prison

Story of a Woman Returning from Prison

Surviving Danbury FCI --   by Jacqueline Polverari - Guest Blogger     I don’t think I could ever remember a time in my past life where I was truly satisfied or even happy with myself.  I had a continuing need to prove myself to my father, a...

read more
Interview: WGCH 1490 AM, Greenwich, CT

Interview: WGCH 1490 AM, Greenwich, CT

Rev. Jim Lemler, Rector and Senior Pastor of Christ Church Greenwich, interviewed Jeff for his radio show, "On Faith." It is presented on The Greenwich Sentinel Radio Hour. Please click below to listen to archived show. Original Airdate: Tues. Jan. 31,...

read more

Prisonist.org: May ’16 Newsletter

From: Rev. Jeff Grant, Director, Lynn Springer, Founding Advocate Progressive Prison Project/Innocent Spouse & Children Project Prisonist.org: May '16 Newsletter  Progressive Prison Project/  Innocent Spouse & Children Project Faith & Dignity for...

read more

The National Hire Ex-Felons Campaign

Progressive Prison ProjectInnocent Spouse & Children ProjectGreenwich l Weston l BridgeportConnecticut The National Hire Ex-Felons CampaignBy Bob Pelshaw - Guest Blogger _______________ The Relationship Between Felons – Jobs – Employers - CrimeAs an...

read more

TEDx SingSing: December 3, 2014

Progressive Prison Project Innocent Spouse & Children Project Greenwich, Connecticut TEDx Sing Sing: December 3, 2014Sometimes an event comes along that is so important and groundbreaking for our community that we are jumping out of our skin - this is...

read more

ReentrySurvivors.com: Willie Hayes

Progressive Prison Project Innocent Spouse & Children Project Greenwich, ConnecticutReentrySurvivors.com: Willie Hayes"Seek to do what most aren't willing to do now, so that you will be able to do what most can't do later" - Willie Hayes My name is...

read more