The Gospel calls us to visit the imprisoned—but what are we supposed to do when someone who has been released from prison comes home? It’s a question that has both spiritual and practical ramifications.
Each year, more than 600,000 individuals are released from prison in the United States. Within five years, roughly 71% will return to prison. A sobering reality.
We like to think of ourselves as a nation of second chances. In reality, our systems often shut the door before a person has even stepped through it.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us, “I was in prison and you visited me.” He does not say, “I was wrongly imprisoned” or “I was already on the right path.” In short, Jesus asks us to show up and to be present in love, and to see Christ in those whom the world finds easy to forget.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which I have the privilege of serving as National President, is rooted in that kind of encounter. We are one of the oldest and largest lay Catholic organizations serving people in need through personal relationships, spiritual growth, and acts of mercy. That includes those returning home from incarceration. They are our brothers and sisters. They are Lazarus at the gate. And the question is: will we welcome them, or leave them behind?
Earlier this year, the Society hosted a panel alongside Catholic Charities USA, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology in Washington, D.C., to bring attention to the need for faith-based reentry programs. Among the speakers was a man named Phil Conley. Phil grew up on the South Side of Chicago, surrounded by poverty, addiction, and violence.
“The only thing I saw getting rewarded was violence,” Phil said. “I didn’t see many people working jobs or going to church.”
Like so many people around him, he went to prison and served his time. But after his release, he found something many returning citizens never do: real support. He was connected with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Des Moines, Iowa, and his life began to change. Through mentorship and spiritual support, Phil built a new path—one that led him to become a business owner, a father, and a mentor to others walking the road he once did.
“If you had told me 15 years ago this would be my life, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said. “But now I’m living it. And I’m not stopping here.”
In Des Moines, SVdP has created two initiatives, IMMERSION and Back2Work, to serve returning citizens. These programs don’t offer handouts. They offer practical help, infused with Christian hope. Participants receive housing support, job training, and spiritual care. They’re paid a livable wage while learning skills and preparing for employment. They offer a steady presence in the first fragile hours after release—a reminder that dignity doesn’t have to be earned; it’s already theirs.
This is not simply an act of charity, but a response to the demands of justice. It’s what Catholic social teaching calls the preferential option for the poor. It’s what St. Vincent de Paul meant when he said, “We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of his love.”
Since launching in Iowa, these programs have spread to cities like Seattle, Oakland, Orlando, and Milwaukee. Their success is measurable. Iowa’s state recidivism rate is 45%. Among those who go through SVdP’s Immersion Program, it’s just 18%.
But behind every number is a name, a story, and a soul.
We’ve seen what’s possible when returning citizens receive the support they need. Like a man who left prison with no ID, no job, and no place to sleep, but who now leads a team as a supervisor in a restaurant. The young adult who never had a parent but now has a mentor, a paycheck, and a future. Or the woman who struggled to hold a job after being released until someone taught her how to manage conflict, speak with confidence, and believe she was worthy of another chance.
These stories don’t often make headlines, but they’re exactly why we do this work.
And they’re why we’ve expanded our voice to the nation’s capital. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul recently opened a national advocacy office in Washington, D.C., and hired Ingrid Delgado as National Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, to ensure that the voices of our 85,000 volunteers and the more than five million neighbors we serve each year help shape national policy. We advocate for community-rooted, person-centered solutions through legislation like the Second Chance Act, through national partnerships, and by ensuring that policymaking includes the voices of those with lived experience.
When we talk about restorative justice, we’re not talking about softening consequences. We’re talking about upholding the dignity of every human person. We’re talking about the truth that no one is beyond God’s mercy. And because that’s true, no one is beyond our reach.
That’s why this work is so urgent. Policies alone don’t restore lives. People do.
You can be part of that change by supporting faith-based reentry programs. Advocate with your local representatives for policies that help people successfully return to their communities. One way to do this is by signing up for action alerts from Catholic organizations such as SVdP, Catholic Charities, or the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as from your State Catholic Conference. When important legislation needs attention, these alerts make it simple to send your message directly to elected officials. In your own community, you can volunteer as a mentor, connect someone with job opportunities, offer housing assistance, or make a financial contribution to organizations offering reentry programs to help sustain these efforts.
Phil Conley’s story is not an outlier. It’s a blueprint. The Gospel doesn’t give us the luxury of looking away from our neighbors. It calls us to lean in. With the right support, the right relationships, and the right vision of the Gospel, lives can change.
Photo by Ye Jinghan on Unsplash
