On Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, 9:00 am ET, D.J. Vodicka, author of the book, The Green Wall, was our guest on the Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant – Live on WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven, rebroadcast at 5 pm. Live-streamed on Facebook Live. On podcast platforms 24/7 everywhere. Criminal Justice Insider Podcast sponsored by the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
See below for podcast viewing and listening details…
Watch on YouTube:
Listen on SoundCloud:
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D.J. Vodicka
The career of Donald “D.J.” Vodicka encompassed the rapid expansion of the prison system in California. For sixteen years, he was a prison guard in California’s highest security and most notorious correctional institutions Daily duties included serving meals to gang leaders, proctoring serial killers in lockdown cells, or patrolling exercise yards filled with violent felons while unarmed and outnumbered 1000-to-2. He belonged to an elite unit called the Investigative Services Unit (Internal Affairs), responsible for solving horrific crimes occurring inside the walls. He was retired as a decorated veteran officer, but certainly NOT of his own volition. He became the most influential “whistle-blower”, uncovering the silent secrecy of a group of rogue prison guards who called themselves “The Green Wall.”
His book is a true story, a real-life drama of one man’s courage to do the right thing against the California State Prison System that helped in the cover-up. It is an unblinking look at what can go wrong when only one person is willing to stand up and speak for what is right, against almost insurmountable odds. Vodicka’s televised state senate testimony exposed a scandal that led to resignations, transfers, sudden retirements, and reforms of the system that are still underway. The story is a classic tale of the triumph of personal integrity in the most dishonest and crooked institution imaginable.
The World’s First Ministry Serving The White Collar Justice Community Greenwich CT & Nationwide
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast with Babz Rawls Ivy and Jeff Grant is broadcast live at 9 am ET on the first and third Friday of each month Sept.-June
From the WNHH 103.5 FM studios in New Haven. It is rebroadcast on WNHH at 5 pm ET the same day. Live-Streamed and Podcast available 24/7.
Jacqueline Polverari and Jeff Grant will be the presenters at Albertus Magnus College’s spring 2020 Justice Panel, which is now scheduled for Monday, October 19th, at 5 pm in New Haven, CT. Details to come!
For the last five years, a semi-annual event at Albertus Magnus College has been a presentation by the Pursuing Truth and Justice Student-Faculty Panel, or “Justice Panel,” for short. The Justice Panel is a student-faculty collaboration aimed at addressing contemporary instances of institutionalized injustice. Themes in the past include police-community relations, human trafficking, access to mental health services, the role of the prosecutor, racial privilege and exclusion, immigration policy, racial justice in the NFL, and the status of Puerto Rico.
The Justice Panel lasts one hour and allows for each presenter to speak, followed by a respondent, additional remarks by the speakers, and comments from the floor. As we wish to include the students in the evening program, the Panel will present at 5:00 pm.
The themes of incarceration and re-entry are intended to branch out to other elements of criminal justice reform and to other topics that bear on justice. For instance, there is an interest on campus in the topics of mass incarceration, restorative justice, and the loss of civil rights by felons who have completed their sentences.
The Justice Panel is open to the entire Albertus Magnus College population and the community at large.
Justice Panel
“Incarceration and Re-Entry: A View from the Inside” Presenters: Jacqueline Polverari, MSW, Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Service Jeff Grant, M.Div., Director of the Progressive Prison Project, Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries Respondents: Cecilia Sebastian, Ph.D. Candidate in German Studies, Yale University Tracy Bowens, ’19, Masters in Leadership Program, Albertus Magnus College Please note: This program will be offered twice Monday, October 19, 2020, Virtual Event
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. To reserve a space please email ([email protected]) or call 203-401-2024
Sponsored by the Preaching Truth and Justice Panel Committee and the Criminal Justice Program
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Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW is the founder and Executive Director of Evolution Reentry Services, focusing on the needs of women who have been impacted by the Criminal Justice System. Jacqueline has over 25 years’ experience as a professional with proven successes in business leadership, mentoring and therapeutic environments. Her experience working with trauma culminated after spending almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women and observing the trauma women experience related to being incarcerated. She has since dedicated herself to Criminal Justice Reform and Reentry services with a special focus on trauma and reentry services for women relating to incarceration. Jacqueline is an active member of the National Association of Social Workers, JustLeadershipUSA and #Cut50 and speaks at conferences and symposiums throughout the country. She most recently designed and hosted the first retreat for women convicted of a white-collar crime in the country in October 2019. Jacqueline is working diligently to continue her education and has returned to school to obtain her Doctoral Degree in Social Work with a concentration in Criminal Justice. For more information or to schedule a speaking engagement you can reach Jacqueline Polverari: evolutionreentry.com, [email protected]
Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.is an ordained minister with over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law, reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive & religious leadership. Sometimes referred to in the press as “The Minister to Hedge Funders,” he uses his experience and background to guide people faithfully forward in their lives, relationships, careers and business opportunities, and to help them to stop making the kinds of decisions that previously resulted in loss, suffering and shame.
After an addiction to prescription opioids and serving almost fourteen months in a Federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer, Jeff started his own reentry – earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a focus in Christian Social Ethics. He is Co-Founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice/economy exiled community. Jeff is the first person in the United States formerly incarcerated for a white collar crime to be appointed as CEO of a major criminal justice organization.
As an ordained minister, conversations and communications between Jeff and those he serves fall under clergy privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with Jeff while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
_______________________
Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas with Guest Craig Stanland
Today on the podcast, we have Craig Stanland. Not only does Craig have a great TedTalk out there, and a new book to be published next year, but he is one of my very first ministees. It’s hard to believe that he first contacted me in 2013 after he was charged with fraud. He’s been a good friend and colleague ever since, and is a regular member of our online White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings.
Craig actually led the discussion on the very first episode of White Collar Week, where we had sixteen of our support group members tell their stories. You can find the link to that episode here.
So, coming up. Craig Stanland. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.
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Guests on this Episode:
Craig Stanland: I’m a Coach, a Reinvention Architect, the author of the soon to be published memoir, The Blank Canvas, and a highly sought after public speaker with a TEDx Talk titled, “How I Learned My Greatest Worth in Federal Prison.” My mission is to help people whose lives have fallen apart, people who want to start over, rebuild, and reinvent themselves so they can have the extraordinary life they’ve always wanted.
You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff
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All Episodes:
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
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What is the White Collar Justice Community?
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different this summer – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
_______________________
Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Today on the podcast, we have two of my dearest and closest friends and colleagues, Father Joe Ciccone and Father Rix Thorsell of Saint Joseph Mission Church in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. Both Fr. Joe and Fr. Rix were classmates of mine at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Both were convicted of white collar crimes. And both are members of our online White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings.
Fr. Joe was the County Sheriff of Bergen County, New Jersey, one of the highest-profile positions in one of the most affluent counties in the United States. Joe was elected and served on this position until he pled guilty for campaign funds violations. His case and face were splashed across newscasts and newspapers in the greater New York area.
Fr. Rix, on the other hand, moved from seminary to become the youth pastor at a parish church where his gambling addiction caught up with him. He was prosecuted and lost his position for stealing $300 worth of gift cards from the church.
From the lowest moments of their lives, both Fr. Joe and Fr. Rix grew and evolved to become ordained reverends, healers devoted to serving others.
So coming up, The Ministers. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.
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Guests on this Episode:
Rev. Dr. Joseph Ciccone: Father Joe is a Priest in the Order of Franciscan Servants and a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a Master of Divinity Degree in Ministry and Pastoral Care. Fr Joe is currently assigned to Saint Joseph Mission Church, bringing the Gospel to those in the margins and to people in need wherever they may be. He has just completed his 6th year of CPE (Chaplain Program) at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC. Before that, I spent four years at a Friary in PA where he was ordained. Fr Joe holds a doctorate in Education and is a retired Police Commander in addition to his vocational call that specializes in traditional and non-traditional Catholic, Christian, and Interfaith services and ceremonies. The Saint Joseph Mission on the Move began in New Jersey in 2016, thus far has married over 400 couples, Baptized so many of the children and some of the couples we have married. We make countless hospital visits and give the anointing of the sick, bring the sacraments to the homebound, the lost and broken, and those who need God’s love but have been hurt by the traditional church. Fr Joe also is teaching for the Jesuit Refugee Mission in Africa online – it has been an amazing experience helping those across the globe, we are indeed a mission moving everywhere. I have loved every minute of the past decade and looking forward to doing God’s work in serving all of God’s people for many years to come. Speaking of that – come to one of our mass or call if we can do anything sacred for you! All of God’s love, Fr Joe
Father Rix: Rev. Rix Thorsell is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with a Master of Divinity Degree in Ministry and Pastoral Care (MDiv 2010), and Drake University (BA in Political Science & Religious Studies) and a Priest in the Order of Franciscan Servants. After working for various church communities to create and develop ministry programs from high school through college, Fr. Rix entered formal ministry in 2013 as an Associate Pastor for Youth and Young Adults in the suburbs of Chicago. After leaving his previous denomination in 2015, Fr. Rix joined the Progressive Catholic Church and has continued his ministry to both bring younger voices into the Church as well as facilitating the transition to new technological mediums for various non-profits. Rix currently works for Saint Joseph Mission Church as a pastoral liaison and manages various podcasts and educational forums, including “From Police to Priest” and “Stream of Thought” by VNR Media.
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You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff
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All Episodes:
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
______________________________
What is the White Collar Justice Community?
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different this summer – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
Basia Skudryzk is a team member of our ministry, and a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets online on Zoom on Monday evenings, 7:00 pm ET, 6:00 pm CT, 5:00 pm MT, 4:00 pm PT.
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While the term trauma was originally largely confined to medicine and psychotherapy, it’s found its way into everyday language, where it is often used, semantically overstretched, for any form of painful or frustrating experience. Yes, even for the infamous word…Covid-19.
We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body. This imprint has ongoing consequences for how the human organism manages to survive in the present. Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.
Traumatic events encompass anything from a sexual assault or physical/mental abuse to a cancer diagnosis. “By abuse, we often mean things that are a lot milder than things people typically think of as abuse. It might include being hit with a hard object, like a whip, a belt, or a paddle,” says Roberts. “The behavior doesn’t necessarily need to be illegal to induce a traumatic response.”
People who experience traumatic events sometimes develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. PTSD can develop after a person experiences violence or the threat of violence, including sexual violence. It may affect people who have a close relative who experienced those things as well. These traumatic events are generally incidents that are considered outside the ordinary and are exceptional in their intensity.
Avoidance of painful intrusions as a measure of self-protection is only one of the reasons that makes it difficult to share a traumatic experience with others. There are many other reasons such as: speaking about what happened can be subject to interdiction, social taboo, or shame; a common ground of experience or knowledge is missing; one does not want to burden others with one’s own pain; the violation and the suffering have not yet been socially acknowledged.
“[A]nyone speaking or writing about concentration camps is still regarded as suspect; and if the speaker has resolutely returned to the world of the living, he himself is often assailed by doubts with regard to his own truthfulness, as though he had mistaken a nightmare for reality.” (Arendt 1951/1979: 439)
Our risk for mental and physical health problems from a past trauma goes up with the number of events we’ve experienced. For example, your risk for problems is much higher if you’ve had three or more negative experiences, called adverse childhood experiences (ACEs.. Adverse events include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, witnessing domestic violence, substance misuse within the household, mental illness within the household, parental separation or divorce and incarceration of a household member.
While severely traumatic events are believed to have the greatest effect on long-term health, other stressful events that don’t necessarily meet the psychological definition of trauma can still cause problems. This might include a sudden death in the family, a stressful divorce, or caring for someone with a chronic or debilitating illness. These milder events might lead to a mental health disorder, such as anxiety or depression. Trauma pushes your ability to cope, so if you have a predisposition toward anxiety, for example, it may push you over the edge.
People who are suffering from traumatic memories may try to escape them by participating in risky behaviors such as drinking, smoking, drug use, compromising behavior for acceptance or even overeating for comfort. Coping mechanisms are used as a way of dealing with emotional disregulation that occurs when someone has been traumatized. These habits, in turn, lead to health problems. Experts believe that there is actually a direct biological effect that occurs when your body undergoes extreme stress. When you experience something anxiety-provoking, your stress response activates. Your body produces more adrenaline, your heart races, and your body primes itself to react. Someone who has experienced trauma may have stronger surges of adrenaline and experience them more often than someone who has not had the same history.
People who have experienced trauma may also struggle with getting help. One of the most common outcomes of trauma is avoidance. It makes sense. If you experience something traumatic, you want to avoid thinking about it and going to places that remind you of it. Some people may be in denial about the role past trauma is playing in their life. One of the hallmarks of trauma is the fact that people often use defense mechanisms to protect themselves from stress. Denial is one of those, as is trying to normalize past problems.
To get more information about trauma and PTSD or to find treatment resources, the following professional resources may be of use:
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (www.istss.org)
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (www.adaa.org)
The National Center for PTSD (www.ptsd.va.gov)
Taking steps to address the problem may also help others in your life. Very often people who have experienced trauma pass problems on to others in their family through a process called observational learning. So, helping yourself may help those around you. Consider these steps:
Work with a therapist. A trained therapist can help you reframe what happened to you and help you move past it. Exposure therapy is the idea of exposing yourself in small doses to the thing that was most traumatizing, with someone there to support you.
Take care of yourself. There are numerous lifestyle measures that can help you reduce stress and anxiety. These include yoga, swimming, walking, journaling and meditation. Regular exercise can also help you manage stress and other symptoms.
Reach out to others. Research has shown that maintaining strong social ties with friends and family members is crucial to good mental health. Become part of a support network.
People, organizations, and societies can emerge from crisis stronger. What good can come of this? In times of crisis, people often ask that question. This year we’ve been hit by a pandemic that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and a global economic downturn. In the face of such a tragedy, it might appear that the answer is “Nothing.”
EDUCATION: To move through trauma to growth, one must first get educated about what the former is: a disruption of core belief systems. For example, before the pandemic, many of us thought that we were safe from the types of diseases that endangered people in the past and that our social and economic systems were resilient enough to weather all storms. None of that was true. So now we need to figure out what to believe instead.
EMOTIONAL REGULATION: To do any learning, one must be in the right frame of mind. That starts with managing negative emotions such as anxiety and anger. Instead of focusing on failures, uncertainties and worst-case scenarios, try to recall successes, consider best-case possibilities and think reasonably about what you can do.
NARRATIVE DEVELOPMENT: The next step is to produce an authentic narrative about the trauma and our lives afterwards so that we can accept the chapters already written and imagine crafting the next ones in a meaningful way. Your story — and the stories of people you’re helping — can and should be about a traumatic past that leads to a better future.
SERVICE: People do better in the aftermath of trauma if they find work that benefits others — helping people close to them or victims of events similar to the ones they have endured. Identify with organizations that thrive under the leadership of people who have faced similar losses and want to share the strength they’ve gained. Focusing on how you can help provide relief during the continuing crisis — whether by sewing masks, retraining teammates, supporting small businesses or agreeing to a temporary pay cut — can lead to growth. So can simply expressing gratitude and showing compassion and empathy to others. Perhaps you can help those most seriously affected.
People are often surprised by how well they can handle trauma. They are left better equipped to tackle future challenges. Groups often come through such trials with a clearer picture of their collective knowledge, skills, resilience and growth potential. Trauma can also help forge new relationships and make people more grateful for the ones they already have. Coming through a crisis together is a bonding experience.
If you’re thinking this is all too optimistic, you may still be too close to the tragedy of this pandemic. So be patient as you work through and facilitate the process of post-traumatic growth. Growth can’t be forced, and it can’t be rushed. However, when you and others are ready, it is worth the effort. Let’s make sure that we derive something positive from this time of struggle.
Basia is a workforce development case manager at St. Patrick Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She reconnects clients to their communities by providing opportunities for training, education and employment; establishing a foundation for human growth and dignity. When she’s not working, she’s a #1 fan to her amazing daughters who play soccer and lacrosse. Talk travel, culture, music and food – she’ll be your best friend, just like her two labradoodles are to her family clan. She can be reached at: [email protected], Follow her on Twitter: @basiaskudrzyk
White Collar Week with Jeff Grant A Podcast Serving the White Collar Justice Community
Limited 10-Episode Run: Summer 2020
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
_______________________
Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Today on the podcast we have Jim Campbell, a radio host and journalist based in Greenwich, Connecticut, who hosts a nationally syndicated business affairs show, Business Talk with Jim Campbell. He also hosts another show, Forensic Talk, that dives into the world of financial crimes. It’s probably not surprising that Jim and I are friends, and that he has interviewed me on both of his shows.
Today we turn the tables and Jim the interviewer becomes Jim the guest, as we talk about his upcoming book, Madoff Talks: Uncovering the Untold Story Behind the Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme in History. Jim’s book will be published April 2021 (McGraw Hill). He is now putting the finishing touches on his multi-year dialogue with Bernie Madoff in prison, Bernie’s wife Ruth Madoff, and Bernie’s late son Andrew Madoff, as well as government investigators, lawyers, witnesses, and most importantly, the victims. While Jim has culled over 400 pages of actual emails with Bernie Madoff – and presents Madoff’s words verbatim – he never accepts any of it at face value. Jim investigates the truth behind the man, the family, the fraud, and the systemic breakdown of the SEC, big banks, and every watchdog that had the obligation and opportunity to stop the fraud before more people got hurt. But failed.
The Bernie Madoff story was, and remains, one of the biggest tales of grandiosity and greed that Wall Street has ever known, and certainly the largest Ponzi scheme in history. And we have an inside, up-close look on today’s podcast.
So, coming up, Madoff Talks, with our guest Jim Campbell. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
Since 2008, Jim Campbell has been the host of the nationally syndicated radio show: “Business Talk with Jim Campbell”, over the Biz Talk Radio Network which has 350 affiliated radio stations in the U.S. He is known for “Taking on Wall Street and Washington from the Radical Center” with interviews of leading figures from the worlds of business, politics and sports. The show features challenging, in-depth interviews and “deep dives” on matters of global importance, tackling big issues without the extremist distortions of so much talk radio. His subjects have ranged from crime on Wall Street to Kremlin intrigues in Putin’s criminal state of Russia, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to major CEOs, and leading authors of books on business, politics and sports.
He’s known for “firsts” – the first extensive interview with former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer after his resignation. The first interview with former TYCO CEO Dennis Kozlowski after his release from prison. The first broadcast interview with one of the major participants in the biggest insider trading scandal in Wall Street history – Roomy Khan of the Raj Rajaratnam case – after her release from prison.
New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker, calls Jim: “The gold standard in broadcasting”. His nationally renowned guests consistently call his interviews among the best they’ve ever had.
He’s also the host of the crime show: “Forensic Talk with Jim Campbell” – on 1490 WGCH Greenwich, covering Fairfield County, CT and Westchester County, NY. The show features inside looks into financial crimes; unsolved high profile murder cases; international political crimes and other major scandals – with the same attention to unbiased facts and forensics he’s known for on “Biz Talk with Jim Campbell”. In other words, a brand extension into the ever popular world of crime shows.
He is Assistant News Director at 1490 AM Greenwich, CT radio.
He has a book coming out from McGraw Hill: “Madoff Talks: Uncovering the Untold Story Behind the Most Notorious Ponzi Scheme in History.” Pre-order Madoff Talks on Amazon.com here.
He has a BA, Magna Cum Laude, from Tufts University, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Jim Campbell can be reached at [email protected].
______________________
You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff
______________________________
All Episodes:
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
______________________________
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different this summer – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
White Collar Week with Jeff Grant A Podcast Serving the White Collar Justice Community
Limited 10-Episode Run: Summer 2020
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
_______________________
Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma & Healing when Mom Goes to Prison, Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Today on the podcast we have Jacqueline Polverari, a mom who served time in a Federal Prison for a white collar crime, and her two daughters, Maria and Alexa. It is an intimate look inside how crime and prison ravage families, and the steps needed to heal and put families back together.
As far as I know, this type of conversation has never before been recorded for the public. There is a lot of joy and laughter – and sadness and tears. Real stuff in the life of this family, and of every family going through difficult issues.
Full disclosure, this is no ordinary family. Jacquie is a member of our White Collar Support Groupthat meets online on Monday evenings who has founded her own organization, Evolution Reentry in Branford, CT, supporting women who have been prosecuted for white collar crimes. Both of her daughters (and her husband Dave and son Thomas too!) give of themselves freely to regularly support the families of people with white collar justice issues.
I am sure you will relate to and identify with so much in this podcast, regardless of what kinds of problems you and your family might be going through.
So, coming up – the Polveraris. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff
Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW was a Social Worker for over 10 years and a partner in a large Title Company for over 15 years. As an entrepreneur, Jacqueline had reached new limits of her career as an experienced professional with proven success in business and mentoring environments when a series of poor choices led her to a federal indictment and a sentence of almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women. After her release, Jacqueline entered a new phase of her life researching in depth about Mental Health, Crime and Criminal Justice while correlating it to reentry services. This clearly grew into her passion after she had faced the many challenges of reentry. It is clear to her that there is a lack of resources for reentry and there is a need for change. She is working and advocating to be part of a change to come by dedicating herself to help fix this broken criminal justice system. Jacqueline is currently an integral part in helping women prepare for entry and reentry of the Federal Prison System both psychologically and spiritually through mental health services and education of the system. She has founded Evolution Family Reentry Services and is currently building resources by establishing nurturing partnerships with professionals in the mental health fields as well as employers and career placement agencies to help women and their families who face career barriers as they re-enter into society. You can reach Jacqueline at: http://www.evolutionreentry.com/.
______________________
You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff
______________________________
All Episodes:
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
______________________________
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different this summer – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
In May of this year, David A. Staveley (a/k/a Kurt D. Sanborn) of Andover, Massachusetts, and David Butziger of Warwick, Rhode Island, were accused of conspiring to illegally obtain funds through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP offers billions of dollars in potentially forgivable loans to keep workers on the payroll, guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Staveley and Butziger claimed to have dozens of employees earning wages at four different business entities when, in fact, no employees were working for any of the businesses. They allegedly sought more than a half-million dollars in loans.
Staveley has since disappeared. According to federal authorities, David A. Staveley apparently cut off his GPS-monitoring device and went missing. He is considered a fugitive, says Jim Martin, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island.
In the press release announcing the charges, the Justice Department warned other PPP loan applicants that the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies would aggressively pursue fraud charges against anyone who attempted to defraud the PPP loan program. At least 15 individuals have been charged to date in similar cases, including defendants in Virginia, Texas, and Ohio.
Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta of the FBI’s Boston Field Office said that the arrests “should serve as a warning to others that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will aggressively go after bad actors like them who are utilizing the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to commit fraud.”
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has previously reported that “disaster loans are vulnerable to improper payments, fraud, and default because loan transactions are often expedited to provide quick relief to disaster survivors.” The SBA ramped up hiring and training following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, but clearly, fraud is still occurring – and it had for years before that time.
When I wrote about the arrests of Staveley and Butziger in May, I received many emails from readers about PPP loan fraud. Most were angry. But I was struck by one email that took a different tack. It was from a man named Jeff Grant, who explained that he understood this story all too well: he served almost fourteen months in a federal prison for a white-collar crime he committed when he was a lawyer. That crime was related to improperly taking an SBA loan following 9/11.
Grant’s story was both cautionary and understanding, and I was intrigued. He and I subsequently had a conversation (you can listen to it as part of the podcast here). One of the things that struck me during the discussion was that Grant – who understands that what he did was wrong – came out of the experience with a desire to help others escape the same fate. He now works with white-collar criminals at Progressive Prison Ministries.
He wrote about his experience for Entrepreneur magazine. His takeaways are intended to offer insight on what business owners should consider before they take out disaster loans. One of his warnings that resonates with many of the emails that I’ve received is this: Beware of the belief that rules are suspended in times of emergency.
That’s something that I’ve heard from business owners and tax professionals alike. The guidance governing PPP loans can be confusing and it’s changing all of the time. But don’t confuse those changes with the suggestion that can you can skirt the rules. The rules are still the rules.
And another – one of the ones that Grant and I discussed at length – was this: We can’t save our businesses and our lifestyles at the same time. As Grant wrote, “Simply put, SBA loans are meant to save your business, not your lifestyle.” Loans aren’t meant to pay for your new car or your dining options: they’re meant to keep the lights on at your business. Be cautious, and be smart.
(You can read the entire Entrepreneur article here.)
Grant ended our conversation on a hopeful note. Now happily re-married and still connected with his daughters, Grant said that it took him a while to realize that, “I wasn’t the worst thing I ever did.”
Taxgirl Podcast: Jeff Grant talks Desperation and SBA/ PPP Loans in a Time of Crisis with Kelly Phillips Erb on Her Podcast, link here.
Years ago, I found myself sitting in law school in Moot Court wearing an oversized itchy blue suit. It was a horrible experience. In a desperate attempt to avoid anything like that in the future, I enrolled in a tax course. I loved it. I signed up for another. Before I knew it, in addition to my JD, I earned an LL.M Taxation. While at law school, I interned at the estates attorney division of the IRS. At IRS, I participated in the review and audit of federal estate tax returns. At one such audit, opposing counsel read my report, looked at his file and said, “Gentlemen, she’s exactly right.” I nearly fainted. It was a short jump from there to practicing, teaching, writing and breathing tax. Just like that, Taxgirl® was born.
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More on SBA PPP & EIDL Loan Fraud:
Entrepreneur: I Went to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud: 7 Things You Should Know when Taking Covid-19 Disaster Relief Money, by Jeff Grant, Link to article here.
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Steal Money from the Feds? First, Meet Jeff Grant, an Ex-Con who Committed Loan Fraud, by Erin Arvedlund: Link to article here.
Fraud Stories Podcast with Mark Lurie: SBA/PPP Loan Fraud with Guest: Jeff Grant. Link to podcast here.
Forbes: As Law Enforcement Pursues SBA Loan Fraud, Jeff Grant Talks Redemption, by Kelly Phillips Erb. Link to article here.
Taxgirl Podcast: Jeff Grant talks Desperation and Loans in a Time of Crisis with Kelly Phillips Erb on Her Podcast. Link to article and podcast here.
Business Talk with Jim Campbell: Jeff Grant Talks with Jim About Going to Prison for SBA Loan Fraud and What to Know When Taking Coronavirus Relief Money, Biz Talk Radio Network, Broadcast from 1490 AM WGCH Greenwich, CT. Listen on YouTube here.
Babz Rawls Ivy Show: Babz Rawls Ivy & Jeff Grant Talk SBA / PPP Loan Fraud and 7 Things to Know Before You Take Coronavirus Relief Money, WNHH 103.5 FM New Haven. Watch on YouTube here.
Also: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Episode 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest Kelly Phillips Erb. Link here.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
_______________________
Podcast Ep. 01: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group
This is a very special podcast – we have on 16 members of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Zoom on Monday nights, 7 pm Eastern, 4 pm Pacific. We have held over 200 weekly meetings and they get better each week as we come out of isolation and into a supportive community that truly cares about one another. We have welcomed over 200 support group members along the way!
But the support group meeting on this podcast is a little different than most, because everyone appearing has agreed to share their names, faces and very personal stories in an effort to reach out to individuals and families suffering in silence. We’ve never done anything like this before as a group, but we feel the cause is so important that it was worth the risk.
I know you will learn to love and respect every member you see or hear on this podcast as much as I do. – Jeff
Jacqueline Polverari, MBA, MSW was a Social Worker for over 10 years and a partner in a large Title Company for over 15 years. As an entrepreneur, Jacqueline had reached new limits of her career as an experienced professional with proven success in business and mentoring environments when a series of poor choices led her to a federal indictment and a sentence of almost a year in Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women. After her release, Jacqueline entered a new phase of her life researching in depth about Mental Health, Crime and Criminal Justice while correlating it to reentry services. This clearly grew into her passion after she had faced the many challenges of reentry. It is clear to her that there is a lack of resources for reentry and there is a need for change. She is working and advocating to be part of a change to come by dedicating herself to help fix this broken criminal justice system. Jacqueline is currently an integral part in helping women prepare for entry and reentry of the Federal Prison System both psychologically and spiritually through mental health services and education of the system. She has founded Evolution Family Reentry Services and is currently building resources by establishing nurturing partnerships with professionals in the mental health fields as well as employers and career placement agencies to help women and their families who face career barriers as they re-enter into society. You can reach Jacqueline at:http://www.evolutionreentry.com/.
Jeffrey Abramowitz, J.D. is the Executive Director of Reentry Services for JEVS Human Services and Program Director of Looking Forward Philadelphia. Jeff was a 2018 Fellow for Justleadership USA, and has most recently served as the Director of Student Services & Workforce Development for Community Learning Center. Jeff was a trial lawyer in Philadelphia before poor choices in life and his professional career resulted in acceptance of responsibility and a five-year sentence in the federal prison system. Entering the criminal justice system allowed Jeff the opportunity to see the world with a new pair of glasses and find his passion for education and workforce development. In the short 4.5 years since Jeff has been home he has worked with over 4,000 individuals, spoken and lectured across the country to educators, administrators, communities, and those touched by our criminal justice system. Jeff proudly sits on the Executive Board of the Coalition on Basic Adult Education, COABE, where he serves as the chair of the Literacy Behind and Beyond the Walls Committee, was appointed to the Pennsylvania Reentry Council and serves as Chairman of the Employment Committee and Co-chairs the Reentry Committee for the PA Workforce Development Board. Jeff is active in the Philadelphia Reentry Coalition. Jeff serves on the board of directors of Community Forgiveness & Restoration, a member of NationSwell Council, and Advisory Board Member of Philadelphia Petey Greene Program. Jeff is presently a LINCS Reviewer, Literacy Information & Communication System, Resource Collection, for the Department of Education, and serves on the National Association of State Directors of Education, Barbara Bush Foundation Criminal Justice Work Group. Jeff is the producer and host of the award-winning weekly radio show “Looking Forward” on Philly Cam Radio WPPM 106.5FM. Jeffrey is a writer, keynote speaker and lecturer around the country on issues of adult education, workforce development and criminal justice. Jeff can be reached at:[email protected].
Joseph Grmovsek is the subject of the educational-documentary film Collared and is the first and still ONLY person in Canadian history to serve a Federal sentence of imprisonment for insider trading. He is currently the Program Director for Restorative Justice Housing Ontario, a charity that finds safe homes for elderly ex-prisoners, as well as a public speaker on issues of restorative justice and white-collar crime prevention. He can be contacted through his website CollaredConsulting.com.
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You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 29, Guests: The Entrepreneurs, David Israel & Spencer Oberg
Link here to Podcast Ep. 28, Guests: The Investigators, Kelly Paxton & Brian Willingham
Link here to Podcast Ep. 27, The Addicted Lawyer, Guest: Brian Cuban
Link here to Podcast Ep. 26, Oppression & Identity, Guests: Jaco & Leslie Theron
Link here to Podcast Ep. 25, Ex-Philadelphia D.A., Seth Williams, Part Two
Link here to Podcast Ep. 24, Ex-Philadelphia D.A., Seth Williams, Part One
Link here to Podcast Ep. 23, The Vanishing Trial, Robert Katzberg
Link here to Podcast Ep. 22: The Goddess, with Guest: Babz Rawls Ivy
Link here to Podcast Ep. 21: All Things SBA, PPP & EIDL, with Guest: Hannah Smolinski, CPA, Virtual CFO
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group: 16 of Our Support Group Members Tell Their Stories
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
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What is the White Collar Justice Community?
Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.I
f you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2021, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.,
Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison
Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee
Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix
Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola
Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim
Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood
Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott
Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni
Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine
Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland
Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb
Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson
Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett
Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell
Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria
Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin
Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz
Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney
Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.
Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?
Welcome to White Collar Week, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.
If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…
In this very eventful summer 2020, our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.
Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.
So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different this summer – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grantand Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.
Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.
Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.
All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.
If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.
Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc.
