Formerly incarcerated people can reenter society with faith and with Christians offering them a strong system of support. These were among some of the remarks that various people made at a virtual forum that members of the Antioch-based Men of Valor prison ministry held this month.
Read the full story
Officials with Men of Valor, a prison ministry operating in Middle Tennessee, testified before the state House Judiciary Committee last week on effective reentry services.
Read the full story
Featuring Governor Bill Lee as the keynote speaker, Men of Valor, the men’s Christian prison ministry, held an all-day criminal justice reform conference Wednesday at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in downtown Nashville.
Read the full story
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall are scheduled to headline a criminal justice reform and addiction conference Wednesday in Nashville.
Read the full story
Helping people escape lives of generational chaos and trauma is something we should all do as fellow humans, and people of faith take this calling to heart especially deeply. Governmental leaders have often considered adopting partnerships between public agencies and private organizations that excel at addressing social crises. Such partnerships are high on the list of priorities for both Governor Bill Lee and President Donald Trump. The power of faith in reforming lives is undeniable.
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A symposium on criminal justice reform held in Nashville featured an hour-long conversation between Governors Bill Lee of Tennessee and Matt Bevin of Kentucky. The symposium was held in the “appellate courtroom” at the Randall and Sadie Baskin Center of the College of Law, located on the beautiful campus of Belmont University in downtown Nashville. While the event was free, seating was limited, so advanced registration through EventBrite was required. Still, the venue ended up standing room only. Hosts of the symposium were Men of Valor and Right on Crime. Men of Valor offers in-prison ministry in the form of a voluntary program to participants who have applied and been selected based on having the time to complete the full six-month program and exhibiting a sincere desire to change. Programs emphasize the participants’ need for restoration with God, family, community and society, according to the organization’s website. Additionally, Men of Valor offers aftercare and re-entry care and services to men released from prison, to help in overcoming the tremendous obstacles they face with regard to housing and even the most basic of other needs such as food, clothing, transportation, identification and employment. Governor Lee, who spoke of…
Read the full story
Republican governors Bill Lee and Matt Bevin are scheduled to headline an event to discuss and promote criminal justice reform at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Belmont College of Law. Former U.S. Attorney General Albert Gonzales and former inmate Matthew Charles are scheduled to moderate the event, according to a press release. Specifically, Bevin, governor of Kentucky, and Lee, governor of Tennessee are scheduled to discuss state-level criminal justice reform, the press release said. Charles, meanwhile, will share his perspective as the first man released after the passage of the First Step Act. According to Vox.com, the First Step Act takes modest steps to reform the criminal justice system and ease very punitive prison sentences at the federal level. It affects only the federal system — which, with about 181,000 imprisoned people, “holds a small but significant fraction of the US jail and prison population of 2.1 million.” The groups Men of Valor and Right on Crime will host the event, according to a press release. Right on Crime is a national campaign that supports conservative solutions for reducing crime, restoring victims, reforming offenders, and lowering taxpayer costs. Men of Valor is a prison ministry in Middle Tennessee committed to reconciling men to God, their…
Read the full story
NASHVILLE — More than 1,300 people attended a Men of Valor breakfast at Nashville’s Music City Center Tuesday to hear former prisoners tell a message of faith and redemption through Jesus Christ. Men of Valor commit themselves to winning men in prison to Christ. Their goal is to help these men reenter society as men of integrity, according to a brochure group members handed out Tuesday. These things matter to all Tennessee residents. The 2019 Tennessee Department of Corrections budget is more than $1 billion. Tennessee’s prisons currently have more than 25,000 incarcerated men and women, the brochure said. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, a Men of Valor board member and mentor, told audience members it costs taxpayers $28,000 a year to go back to prison. Rudy Kalis, a full-time Men of Valor volunteer, spoke of his experiences mentoring prisoners at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. “They want to know consistency. They want to know if you’re real. They have looked people in the eye all of their lives to get what they got. If you don’t have truth inside of you then they can read that. So it literally makes me stand up and try to be…
Read the full story
ANTIOCH — At the once-thriving Hickory Hollow Mall in Antioch, Darnell Ford, by his own admission, shoplifted, and he also passed along stolen checks and credit cards. When Ford wasn’t at the mall he was out and about dealing drugs at Antioch’s surrounding businesses and restaurants, he said. On Tuesday, Ford, a redeemed man, stood in front of a crowd of about 200 people, including Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee, and said he was “truly ashamed.” The thing that forever altered him — the Men of Valor program. The folks behind Men of Valor unveiled two new housing duplexes this week for 60 released prisoners now committed to Christ. “God taught me how to work on my heart and how to love. It also gave me the structure I needed to live. I learned what it meant to be a giver instead of a taker,” Ford said of the influence Men of Valor had on him and the work responsibilities that came with it. “The first couple of months of working I ran across a lot of old friends that I sold and used drugs with. But I had the chance to help them too. They got a chance…
Read the full story
Raul Lopez quickly discovered when he began helping Republicans with Hispanic outreach that he wasn’t working on a level playing field. He was far outnumbered and outspent by Democrats trying to reach the same audience. Lopez tried to make inroads in the Hispanic community for former President George W. Bush and for Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell when she chaired the Tennessee Republican Party. The frustrations he experienced prompted him to start Latinos For Tennessee, a conservative political advocacy group. The group champions limited government and free markets, fiscal responsibility, immigration enforcement and traditional values. “We’re a counter voice,” Lopez told The Tennessee Star. Started four years ago, the group was organized as a political action committee with an outreach and educational wing. The group is based in Nashville and plans to expand its presence in other parts of the state. Lopez, a native of Cuba who came to the U.S. when he was five years old, is the executive director. In addition, there is an eight-member board of directors. The board chairman is Tommy Vallejos, a Clarksville pastor and Montgomery County commissioner who has announced his intention to run for state Sen. Mark Green’s vacated seat pending Green’s confirmation…
Read the full story
Cornelius Matthews (pictured left) grew up in an abusive home where he never heard the words, “I love you.” “It was a house, not a home,” he said. He didn’t go to church and he made fun of those who believed in God. He later began using drugs and alcohol and ended up in prison for attempted second-degree murder. It was there that he turned to the God he once dismissed as imaginary and grew in his newfound Christian faith with the mentoring of Men of Valor. Matthews told his story Tuesday at a Men of Valor breakfast at the Music City Center in downtown Nashville. More than 900 people attended, including state lawmakers, city officials and pastors. The Nashville-based prison ministry seeks to address recidivism with a faith-based approach that helps men recognize how God can transform lives. Men who go through the program have a less than 10 percent chance of returning to prison, group organizers say. Men of Valor has a ministry inside prisons and also a one-year “aftercare” program to help men upon their release. To help with the transition, the group provides housing, clothing and food and assistance with getting a job. The goal…
Read the full story