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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.
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Click here to view Quotes about the Wings Ministry in a new window.
(needs the free
PDF Viewer from Adobe® that you can get by following this link)
Our Mission is:
The Wings Ministry brings families of prisoners and Christian volunteers together as
Children of God by:
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Providing ecumenical mission opportunities for local congregations worldwide;
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Conducting joyous celebrations of Christ's unconditional love that breaks down
barriers; and
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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
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 the family members?
Wings Parties!
We strongly believe that they are the beginning for many of these family
members to feel welcome and become involved in a local church.
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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
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Ann Edenfield
Executive Director/Founder
2226 B Wyoming NE #130
Albuquerque, NM 87112
1-505-291-6412
1-505-291-6418 Fax
AnnEdenfield@WingsMinistry.org
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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,
left 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 in Adobe® PDF Format:
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Joe R. Williams - Wings Endorsement
New Mexico Secretary of Corrections
February 20, 2004
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Eloy L. Mondragon - Letter of Support
Eloy L. Mondragon, Corrections Consultant
Former Secretary of Corrections, State of New Mexico
February 24, 2004
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Ron Guillemette - Letter of Support
Director - New Mexico Corrections Department of Education
State of New Mexico / Corrections Department
December 4, 2003
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Cel Vigil - Letter of Support
Criminal Justice Consultant
December 28, 2003
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Peggy Steven's Letter of Support
January 2, 2004
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Joey Stuckey - Letter of Support
Musician
January 26, 2004
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Wings Ministry Statement of Policy and Procedure: Safety
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Wings Ministry reserves the right to ask a guest to leave an event if his/her
behavior is threatening or inappropriate.
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All Wings Parties and Wings for L.I.F.E. events are drug, alcohol, and weapons
free.
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Violence, property damage, or verbal abuse will not be tolerated at any Wings
Party or Wings for L.I.F.E. event.
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Out of respect for everyone, all participants at Wings Parties and Wings for
L.I.F.E. events are encouraged to dress appropriately.
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No volunteer will EVER be alone in a private area with anyone at a Wings Party or
Wings for L.I.F.E. event.
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No volunteer EVER takes a non-family member to the restroom.
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All Wings Parties and Wings for L.I.F.E. events will include an
orientation/training that will review these safety policy statements.
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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.
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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.
The following are registered trademarks of Search Institute: Search Institute®
and Developmental Assets®
The following is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated: Adobe®
The following are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corportation: Microsoft®
and Excel®
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