Mothers Fighting Poverty: Judy Schneider, Akron, Ohio

Leading up to Mother’s Day, the NCC Poverty Initiative is sharing a series of stories lifting up, celebrating, and praying for mothers who are fighting poverty and alleviating suffering in their communities.

Prayer for Judy: God, thank you for expressing your love through Judy to women in Ohio prisons. Thank you for filling her heart with love of her neighbor, especially imprisoned neighbors we are called by God to visit, despite the fact that they are kept away from mainstream society and so often forgotten by many. When times get tough, fill Judy with your grace and courage. Bless and strengthen her family and her work. In good times and bad, let her life overflow with the deepest joy that only You can give. Amen.

Recognized by: Bo Schneider

I would like to honor my wife Judy. She is the mother of three children and raised another boy after his mother died, during her second marriage. She is involved with Kairos Prison Ministry International and as served in Trumbull Correctional, while they housed some women there for a while. While there she realized that the women, receiving State pay of $17.00 a month, were having trouble securing basic items like soap, both bar and shampoo, toothpaste, hygiene products of all kinds. At one point when Ohio’s funds were really at a low point, the women had to purchase their own toilet paper. Judy started seeking help from churches and organizations and twice a year that would supply the 375 ladies their hygiene needs. Trumbull closed their women’s facility and added them to Cleveland pre-release facility. Now, Judy is still helping a total of 580 women; she sees to their needs twice a year. It’s brought quite a few amazing stories. So what do you think about this mother of 4, grandmother of 13, and great grandmother of 5? Happy Mother’s Day, Judy.

Ministry with Prisoners and Families: The Way Forward, by W. Wilson Goode, Charles E. Lewis Sr., & Dean Harold Trulear.

Ministry With Prisoners and Families: The Way Forward, by W. Wilson Goode, Charles E. Lewis Sr., & Dean Harold Trulear. Recommended by Robert Brand of Solutions For Progress.

This book brings history and data about the U.S. criminal justice system into conversation with the hope of our faith. With an emphasis on the African American community, this book calls the church, and especially the Black church, to take a stronger role in supporting prisoners and their families, pre and post release.

Robert Brand says,”This is a wonderful practical approach to changing the way the faith community responds to incarceration and the way congregations and families welcome people who have been incarcerated back into their homes and communities. The Benefit Bank, an online tool developed by Solutions For Progress, with substantial support from the NCC in its early development, is an excellent tool that provides access to critical resources in the transition from incarceration to reentry into society.”

If you’ve read it or you want to, comment on the blog to start a discussion, or tweet us @NCCEndPoverty.

Do you have a book recommendation? Send it our way at info@nccendpoverty.org