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Thresholds & Decisions training for volunteers |
Saturday October 27 from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. in Charlestown, New Hampshire. Led by Penny Rogers. Lunch and refreshments, plus training materials are provided. The training is at no cost to the volunteers. You can choose to "Serve a cause greater than yourself," and answer the call to service by volunteering with Thresholds & Decisions, or with other local organizations meeting community needs. To find out more, or to register for the training, call Teresa Volta toll free: 1-877-711-7787 or email: rsvp@gcscc.org "If it is to be, it is up to me," is how Betty Abbott, Thresholds Director Emeritus sums up the Thresholds and Decisions (T&D) course. The five steps: see the situation clearly; know what you want; expand the possibilities; evaluate and decide; and act. Trained volunteers use a structured, professionally developed curriculum to teach decision making, problem solving, goal setting and image building. Lieutenant Doug Roberts said, "The Sullivan County House of Corrections is excited to be able to work with RSVP to bring in new programming for offenders currently incarcerated." Since 1991, over 276 inmates have graduated from T&D at the Grafton County Department of Corrections (GCDOC) in North Haverhill, New Hampshire. RSVP & The Volunteer Center, which serve Grafton and Sullivan Counties, and sponsors Thresholds locally, will be hosting training for volunteers of the new program in Sullivan County. Penny Rogers, author of the Thresholds curriculum, will lead the training. Who can become a volunteer teacher? Anyone over age 18 (who is not on the facility's staff,) from any walk of life who is willing to be screened, take the training, co-teach with other volunteers, follow the curriculum. The six week commitment involves meeting with inmates for an hour and a half two evenings a week plus the time it takes to review the curriculum and prepare for class. "What's in it for the volunteers?" Sheila Asselin, an RSVP volunteer says, "It's the most satisfying volunteer experience to see the basic good in anyone, that most people are redeemable...they have more good than bad...learning about them, I learn about myself." Sheila's advice to anyone afraid of going into the jail, "It's probably the safest place you could be!" Volunteers' lives are enriched by reviving their own knowledge and learning new things. T&D volunteers have been recognized nationally with a Daily Points of Light award, as well as the National Association of Counties "Acts of Caring" award. Inmates participate on a voluntary basis; they are not court- mandated, required or coerced to take the course. The recidivism rate for the general population at GCDOC is approximately 45%; for Thresholds graduates, it is currently at 34%. This not only saves tax dollars, but helps to support people who will be moving back into our communities to live and work. The impact of volunteer teachers? They're non-threatening because they are not part of the staff of the institution. They must care or they would not be there. They are punctual and dependable. They are free. They free up the institution's personnel for other things. They want to be there, so they abide by the rules. Volunteers involve and educate the community by bringing it into the institution. Thresholds volunteers are well trained and have a lifetime of knowledge to give. Originally, Thresholds and Decisions was started by Dr. Milton Burglass. As a former inmate, he recognized that people's inabilities to make sound decisions is what often led them to committing actions that resulted in incarceration. Dr. Burglass incorporated symbols, anecdotes and stories as a way to share his ideas with inmates, including those who were illiterate. Today, T & D courses take place in over 33 locations in the United States, involving volunteers and inmates with a wide variety of backgrounds. Penny Rogers was responsible for developing a teacher's manual and workbook to provide the course with a consistant structure. Since the successful establishment of NCTD in Grafton County, Cheshire and Hillsborough County RSVP programs have started Thresholds programs in their regions. Thresholds is based on the contention that behavioral change is motivated by the creation of a changed self image. T&D teaches that decision making is the only tool one has to maintain control of one's environment. It also teaches that decision making is a skill that most people can learn to use. It teaches how to choose and condition attitudes and to exercise freedoms while coping effectively with the limits of daily life. By expanding possibilities and choosing a complimentary attitude one begins to accept responsibility for him/herself. Anyone can reach realistic goals. As the workbook states, "Everyone is born to choose; no one is born to lose." Making realistic choices or decisions gives the individual power over his/her life and makes the individual productive, restores values, and enables him/her to live responsibly within the limits and values of self, society and the world. Thresholds volunteer In His Own Words: Dick Highter Thresholds and Decisions in Maine Thresholds & Decisions in Southern New Hampshire
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