About
Wings
The
Wings Ministry hosts three parties a year: a Christmas, Easter,
and a Back-To-School
Party, hoping to reach families at important times throughout
the year. The parties are held in sponsoring churches in different
parts of the city and in different denominations. All participants
in Wings, whether they are inmate’s family members or
church volunteers, enjoy the interaction of Christians working
together from many different denominations.
The Wings Ministry strives to build quality relationships and strong values in
teenagers. Search Institute in Minneapolis has identified 40 developmental assets
that are necessary for healthy growth in teenagers. Wings provides an arena for
effective ways to rebuild assets in the lives of our young people, which can
greatly reduce or prevent their involvement in at-risk behaviors.
The guardians and caregivers of the inmate’s children have time to meet
with church and community leaders and volunteers. Contacts are made that can
enable future support for the families and invitations are extended to the families
to attend worship services of congregations in their neighborhoods. Inmate’s
families are welcomed and encouraged to find a church home. |
Click here to download Quotes about the Wings Ministry.
Our Mission is:
The Wings Ministry brings families of prisoners
and Christian volunteers together as Children of God by:
Providing ecumenical mission opportunities for
local congregations worldwide;
Conducting joyous celebrations of Christ's unconditional
love that breaks down barriers; and
Building relationships that transform both the
lives of the families and the mission of the congregations.
Our Vision is:
To share Christ's unconditional love with all families
of prisoners.
To
Learn More, See the Wings Action Plan and Organizational Story:
To learn more about Wings Ministry,
read our Action Plan that is available through the following links
in
PDF
or Word
format:
Wings
Action Plan in Adobe PDF Format: 403 KB(needs the free PDF
Viewer from Adobe® that you can get by following this link)
Wings
Action Plan in Microsoft® Word Format: 480 KB (right
click to download)
Marissa Nordstrom Perez of Relational Sensibilities: Evaluation, Research & Writing Services produced The Inner Workings of the Wings Ministry: A Compelling Organizational Story for us. This study yields valuable insight into our ministry. Click on the link to view as Adobe PDF.
Why Wings?
Wings springs from the passion of
caring Christians and the deep concern we have to minister to families
of prisoners who have been largely shunned or ignored by our society.
In our society where children are
all at risk in one way or another, children whose parent(s) are in
prison, face even more challenges.
Why
is a program like Wings so necessary today? |
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— Over
3.5 million Americans are being supervised by the correctional
system. |
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— The
estimated cost to incarcerate an individual varies from $32,000
per year to over $130,000 per year! |
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— America spends over $30 billion a year to incarcerate prisoners. |
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— Children
of prisoners are 6 - 8 times more likely to become incarcerated
themselves. They are at critical risk of dropping out of school,
getting involved in violence, and teen pregnancy, due to the
fact that most of them are living in poverty-stricken, high
crime areas with few or no positive adult role models. |
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— 78%
of inmates claim to have had a relative in prison and 1 in
40 children in America have an incarcerated parent. |
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— The
national recidivism rate is about 75%. |
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— The
recidivism rate at the Women’s prison in Grants, New
Mexico is one of the highest in the nation - 82%! And
82% of the inmates claim to be mothers. |
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— Over
50% of the children who have a parent in prison NEVER visit
their parent in prison. |
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— At
least 33% of black men in their twenties are incarcerated or
on probation. |
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— The prison population has more than
doubled in the past 10 years. |
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— If current trends continue,
1 in 20 Americans will be incarcerated in their lifetime. |
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— There are at least 2.5 million
children in this country who have incarcerated parents. |
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— In New Mexico there are approximately
6,000 children of prisoners (5,000 in Bernalillo County - Albuquerque
area). |
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— New Mexico rates poorly in
comparison to the rest of the nation in the way we care for our
children. |
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1. |
One
of every four children (26%) in New Mexico lives in poverty,
making it the 3rd poorest state for children. |
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2. |
New Mexico is
the 4th highest ranked state for teen births, and 3rd highest
for teen death rate due to accident, homicide or suicide. |
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3. |
The high school
drop-out rate nationwide improved since 1990, but New Mexico’s
drop out rate worsened to 11%. |
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What are we doing for
their family members? |
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We strongly believe that
the Wings Parties are the beginning
for many of these family members to feel welcome and become involved
in a local church.
Wings
Ministry Brochure
Click here
to view the Wings Ministry Brochure in Adobe® PDF
Format.
Wings in Albuquerque
Wings Ministry started in Albuquerque, New
Mexico in 1995. Here are some of the Wings Volunteers at the Santa
Fe, New Mexico Prison.
Ann Edenfield,
our founder, is holding the 501(c)3 approval received
from the IRS.
Click here for more information about How
to Start a Wings Program in your community.
Wings
Staff
 |
Ann Edenfield
Executive Director/Founder
2226 B Wyoming NE #130
Albuquerque, NM 87112
1-505-291-6412
1-505-291-6418 Fax
[email protected] |
Wings
Board Members
Click here to learn who our dedicated and committed
Board Members are.
List of Participating Churches
There are over 110 churches and
at least 18 different denominations currently participating in
the Wings Ministry. To view the
list of participating churches, click
here to download in Microsoft® Excel
Format.
Letters of Support
Our Supporters are growing every day. Click
on the links below to view some our supporters' letters:
Wings Ministry Statement of Policy and Procedure: Safety
- Wings Ministry brings families of prisoners, probationers, and former inmates together with caring Christian volunteers and is determined to provide a safe and supportive environment for everyone.
- Wings Ministry cannot allow participation by any person convicted as a sex offender. This protects program participants and ensures that offenders do not violate the terms of their probation/parole.
- Because the Wings Ministry believes everyone is a child of God, any person restricted from attending a Wings Party or Wings for L.I.F.E. event will be referred (with their permission) to an appropriate ministry and/or program.
- The Wings Ministry Safety Policy Statement will be printed on all sign-in registration forms and agendas. All attendees are required to sign in at the registration table using Wings Ministry registration forms.
Policy statement shall read: Wings Ministry Parties & Wings for L.I.F.E. cannot allow participation by any person convicted as a sex offender.
- Any person on probation and/or parole attending a Wings for L.I.F.E. event must check the appropriate box on the registration form and name his/her PPO and contact phone number. Wings for L.I.F.E. personnel will contact the appropriate probation/parole officer for approval to ensure that the probationer gets community service credit, if applicable.
- All Wings Parties and Wings for L.I.F.E. events are organized and set-up in a way to follow the most up-to-date safety practices.
- Wings Ministry reserves the right to ask a guest to leave an event if his/her behavior is threatening or inappropriate.
- All Wings Parties and Wings for L.I.F.E. events are drug, alcohol, and weapons free.
- Violence, property damage, or verbal abuse will not be tolerated at any Wings Party or Wings for L.I.F.E. event.
- Out of respect for everyone, all participants at Wings Parties and Wings for L.I.F.E. events are encouraged to dress appropriately.
- No volunteer will EVER be alone in a private area with anyone at a Wings Party or Wings for L.I.F.E. event.
- No volunteer EVER takes a non-family member to the restroom.
- All Wings Parties and Wings for L.I.F.E. events will include an orientation/training that will review these safety policy statements.
- To be considered a Certified Wings Volunteer, one needs to complete a NCIC, prison, or other approved background check. Only Certified Wings Volunteers will be allowed to wear a Wings Ministry T-shirt.
- Certified Wings Volunteers and board members are encouraged to attend training in sexual harassment prevention, non-discrimination policies, and to review current safety policies on an annual basis.
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