Forsyth Jail and Prison Ministries is excited to announce that after a brief hiatus, our “7 Habits on the Inside” class is back in session with the women at the jail! The month of June saw the relaunch of this much-needed and much-anticipated class designed to help the incarcerated women in our jail to change their paradigm and begin developing new habits for successful living.
Based on the best-selling book by Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, this course is specifically designed for incarcerated persons and helps minister to them in their context in a manner that is clear and concise. The results have already been extraordinary – both in our work with the men at the prison and our previous courses with the women at the jail.
We are grateful for the enthusiastic presence of our new “7 Habits” instructor at the jail, Ms. Peggie Wells. Peggie has a tremendous passion for reaching incarcerated women and helping them transition well back into society. We believe she is certainly the right person God sent to us at the right time to be a blessing to the ladies.
Building upon the firm foundation laid by our first “7 Habits” instructor at the jail, Chaplain Angela Roberson, Peggie started off with a bang! She had a full first class with 20 women in attendance. She began with a video clip of Pharell’s song, “Happy” that had the ladies smiling and dancing as they walked in the door. Several of the women remarked that they had not heard music since they had been locked up. The song and its lyrics certainly helped to lift their spirits.
Peggie then outlined the objectives of the course, expectations of the program participants, and did a brief introduction of the first of the 7 habits. The women were engaged and enlightened. Their enthusiasm could be seen in the questions they asked as they were eager to learn more about the class.
One of the highlights of the first class was a clip Peggie showed of an ex-offender named Allison T. Moore. In the video Ms. Moore can be seen speaking to a group of women at a conference in a fancy ballroom, but instead of being dressed in a formal gown or business suit, Ms. Moore came up to the podium in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs! Her personal story of overcoming her past, starting a non-profit, and helping incarcerated women to transform their lives was truly inspirational. It certainly embodied the message of the “7 Habits” class.
Like the ladies in the class, we can all look forward with excitement to what life transformation will take place over the course of the 11-week class!
-Chaplain Tejado Hanchell
