How I was introduced to
Centre de détention de Hull – Gatineau, Québec
I was invited by Mrs. Desjardins to replace Carol Robinson as a street outreach worker to visit English-speaking prisoners because there wasn’t an AA meeting in English at Hull Prison in the late 1990s. My goal, independent of this task, was to build bonds with residents so I could be a resource when they are back on the street.
Hull Prison is a provincial prison where you serve a sentence of two years minus a day. It was hard to start anything because the prison population are never available for your meeting because
- They escape
- After time off at home, they don’t come back or
- You find them in confinement
My visit to the prison was, as they say, full body contact, meaning that I visited them where they were, the cell, gym, rec room or the exercise yard, which is the secure outdoor space of a prison where inmates can leave their cells to walk, exercise, and interact socially.
Brother Eric partners with the Catholic Prison Ministries in their mission to promote ministry to all those affected by incarceration. (RCC)