Saint Anselm College is just 2.7 miles from the New Hampshire Correctional Facility for Women, the women’s prison in Goffstown. This prison is home to 138 women who have been convicted of various levels of offenses.

During their time in prison, many women lose contact with their families, including parents, sibling, spouses, and children. Often their only friends are their fellow inmates; even then, the prison creates an environment which fosters distrust and inhibits genuine connection. Because of this, when the women are released, they often have no place to call home and no family or friends to lean on for support. The lack of support leads many women to be repeat offenders and return to prison. The cycle to which so many women are victims prevents the women from creating stable and meaningful lives after being released from prison. They have a great need for support and resources.

To meet this need, Jack and Julie McCarthy created the Dismas Home. Jack and Julie have worked with people in prison for much of their lives and have a strong commitment to reducing the growing recidivism rate.

Dismas Home is a house located in downtown Manchester, and one of the Meelia Center’s newest sites. The mission of Dismas Home is to create a safe and supportive community to house formerly incarcerated women from the prison in Goffstown. Although inspired by other Dismas Houses, which exist nationally, the house in Manchester is the only designated Dismas Home. It differs from the others in that it seeks to provide a full range of services rather than simply a room to live in.

When the women arrive in early November, Dismas Home will assist them in finding jobs or attending school, looking for more permanent housing options, reconnecting with family and trustworthy friends, and ultimately supporting them to integrate themselves back into society beyond the walls of prison.

As a nonprofit organization, Dismas Home relies heavily on its volunteers, in addition to one full time staff member. Volunteers have worked hard since last spring in order to prepare the house for the women to move into. This includes things such as raking leaves, painting doors and walls, moving furniture, and much more.

One such volunteer is junior Madi Scott, who has volunteered at Dismas Home since the summer began. She is excited to be involved with Dismas Home, because it is a population with whom she is not used to working. Madi spent countless hours over the summer and semester completing labor tasks, revising the volunteer handbook, seeking donations, keeping track of volunteers, and assisting in volunteer orientation.

In addition to Madi, there are several other students from Saint Anselm College who will spend time at the home once the women move in. Many will visit on week nights and cook a meal for the residents and then share the meal with the women. Others will be at the house in the morning to do room checks, spend time with the women, and assist them in any way possible. The goal of this is to foster community and further assist the women in becoming comfortable outside of prison.

The creators of Dismas Home believe that there is a need for prisoners to be released into a safe and loving environment in order to avoid recidivating, and Dismas Home seeks to provide exactly that.