ShareCircles of Support and Accountability
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The risk to re-offend and re-victimize is reduced when individuals who have been incarcerated for sexual offending and who are returning to the community are offered both support and the opportunity to be accountable. Small "circles" of volunteers in conjunction with MCC staff become new communities for men whose crimes have marginalized them from society.
We RememberIn November of 1993, convicted pedophile Wray Budreo was released from Kingston Penitentiary. Having served every single day of his prison sentence, Wray was free to live wherever he wanted. Initial attempts to move to a smaller town led to community outrage and fear, forcing him to move. On the day of the Santa Claus parade in Toronto, Wray was met by a group of individuals who agreed to support him and at the same time, hold him accountable for the choices he was making. The call of the gospel and the belief that inclusion rather than exclusion is key to community safety, led these individuals to begin a journey that would last for the next 14 years. It was a journey marked by both joy and pain. Staff and volunteers with MCC's Circle of Support and Accountability remember the early beginnings of the program. They remember Wray's life and the journey that they are on together with more than 100 men over the past 15 years. "We remember with gratitude and thanksgiving," reflects Eileen Henderson, MCCO's Restorative Justice Coordinator. Wray Budreo died September 4, 2007. I was in prison and you visited me… I was a stranger and you welcomed me… Contact Eileen Henderson |
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