St. Thomas' Episcopal Church

 
Step by Step
 
I have been volunteering at Step by Step (SbS) for several months (since April, I believe), for six to ten hours a week, serving in several capacities:  I have received training, I have been involved in the planning and organizing of GSBB (Girl Scouts Beyond Bars), I have assisted and been a support to Margy Mayk, the cofounder of SbS, in a variety of ways.
 
At the end of October, we began a workshop for GSBB mothers incarcerated at MCF (Monroe Correctional Facility).  Margy and I went into the jail on Friday afternoons and we led discussions based on materials we brought in, assignments we gave (including writing and drawing activities), and feedback from the women in the group. She and I got together to develop and write the curriculum each week before we met with the women. At every step of the way, Margy was training me.  
 
From working closely with Margy, I can see that she is extraordinarily gifted in this type of work. She has 15-plus years of experience at SbS and 18 years of experience before that in spiritual direction. 
 
Step by Step differs from organizations such as AA, NA, and ACoA (Adult Children of Alcoholics) in that the focus is not on a problem, but on drawing out the capabilities of each woman to help herself. The SbS method is to use strength-based training to help women look reflectively at their own lives, find strengths within themselves that they didn’t know they had, and to build on them.  (The approach is based in cognitive behavioral therapy.) 
 
SbS has had very good results and enjoys a fine reputation with the authorities, and the population, at MCF. People’s lives are being changed. State statistics, for women at the state prison at Albion who have completed at least one SbS Life History Workshop, show that their recidivism is reduced by one-third.
 
Sometimes the women we encounter in jail have had as many blessings in their lives as we do, but most often they have had very difficult lives and they have grown used to being treated like dirt. At our workshop this week, one woman declared, “I found out why I was born.” She was referring to Nelson Mandela’s inaugural speech from 1994 and specifically to the line, “We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.” It is immensely satisfying to share God’s love with these women and see them awaken to the possibilities within themselves.
 
 
                                                                                Kathy Walczak
                                                                                Jan. 14, 2009