Press releases and big announcements about Dismas Ministry and our projects.
Our team consists of a variety of people who share their gifts and talents with Dismas Ministry. Key staff members, interns, and volunteers comprise our “mission family” at our operations located on the campus of Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
We are pleased to introduce the Stritch students, and members our team, to you. Some of the students are preparing for graduation, and others are moving onto summer internship and work opportunities. Before they conclude their work with us, we asked them to reflect on and share a brief statement about their time with Dismas Ministry.
Thank you to all of the Stritch students for their contributions to our shared mission in support of prisoners and their loved ones.
On Friday, April 29, 2022, at the 17th Annual Celebrate Internships Employer Appreciation Event, the Milwaukee Area College Internship Consortium (MACIC)* recognized Dismas Ministry as an Outstanding Small Employer Internship Program. Dismas Ministry was nominated for this award by Tom Kipp, Director of Experiential Learning and Career Education at Cardinal Stritch University.
Each year, MACIC recognizes companies and organizations that have developed exceptional internship programs for college students. The criteria for these awards include providing excellent mentoring for interns through a well-structured internship experience and clear evaluation process, giving interns the opportunity to develop professionally through connecting them to others in the field, and providing interns with opportunities to expand their learning in the field through research and presentations.
The award was presented to Ms. Tyler Curtis, executive director of Dismas Ministry, during a virtual award presentation.
“Cardinal Stritch is fortunate to have Dismas Ministry as one of our Internship Partners. Tyler has gone above and beyond in working with students to assess their professional goals and provide them with a meaningful professional experience that gives them insight not only into the world of ministry, but also into professional norms, administrative strategies and efficiencies, and the importance of collaboration,” said Kipp. “She is intentional in providing her interns with feedback that is both nurturing and challenging. She embraces the Servant Leader model, and her students benefit by gaining insights they might not get in other internships.”
In 2019, Dismas Ministry relocated its operations to the campus of Cardinal Stritch University. Since then, Dismas Ministry has been able to engage several university students in meaningful internship opportunities.
“It is an honor to be recognized for our work with and in support of students at Cardinal Stritch University,” shared Curtis. “As an onsite employer, we have a unique opportunity to collaborate daily with Stritch students, faculty, and staff. In a relatively short period of time, we have developed this program for students to engage with our organization. It is hoped they walk away with a meaningful experience, and that we help prepare them, even in the smallest of ways, for future success in their careers.”
Please continue to follow us and watch our blog as we highlight the wonderful students we have had the pleasure to work with since our arrival on the Stritch campus.
*The Milwaukee Area College Internship Consortium (MACIC) is a professional organization that supports internship directors and staff from all of the public, private, 2-year and 4-year colleges and universities in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Today, on Tuesday, December 8, 2015, which is also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis opens the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.
In proclaiming this special year long focus on the gospel theme of mercy, he is calling the Catholic community, and the global community, to reflect on the reality of God’s mercy. He calls us as followers of Jesus to accept this mercy for ourselves, and to share it with our fellow sojourners on earth.
For Dismas Ministry, this is a special challenge to work with even more dedication to fulfill the words of Jesus, “when I was in prison you visited me”. This means providing support to our sisters and brothers in prison. It also is a call to work closely with our fellow Catholics to bring the message of God’s all-embracing mercy to the dark and often hopeless life behind bars.
As a powerful symbol, Pope Francis opens wide the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica: “No one can be excluded from the mercy of God; everyone knows the way to access it and the Church is the house that welcomes all and refuses no one. Its doors remain wide open, so that those who are touched by grace can find the certainty of forgiveness. The greater the sin, so much the greater must be the love that the Church expresses toward those who convert.”
He asks all of us as members of Christ’s body to
“rediscover the richness encompassed by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.”
“The call of Jesus pushes each of us never to stop at the surface of things, especially when we are dealing with a person. We are called to look beyond, to focus on the heart to see how much generosity everyone is capable…We want to live this Year in the light of the Lord’s words: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
This Holy Year begins today on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2015) and ends November 20, 2016, on the Sunday dedicated to Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. He is the living face of the God’s never ending mercy.
Feature article: Saints Who Were in Prison
Thomas More (1478-1535) was a good husband and father, had a sense of humor, and a pleasant personality. He also was a successful lawyer, scholar and writer, and his talent won both the friendship and recognition of King Henry the Eighth of England. Eventually, the king appointed him to the post of Lord Chancellor – the highest position in the government. It was a great honor and Thomas served with fairness and justice. What at first seemed like a dream-come-true turned into a nightmare that cost Thomas his life. Eventually, the king decided to divorce the queen because they had no children. He desperately wanted a son to succeed him as king. When the pope refused to dissolve the marriage, the king declared himself head of the church in England, divorced the queen and took a new wife.
When citizens were asked to make an oath of loyalty to the king as the head of the church, using his knowledge of the law, Thomas claimed the right to remain silent and retired from public life, resigning as Chancellor. Nevertheless, he was summoned to back to court and jailed in the Tower of London, where he remained in solitude for 15 months …
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Also included in this issue: An Update from Director Ron Zeilinger, Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice & Christ’s Body Behind Bars.