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DISMAS OF VERMONT INC Homes Of Transition For Former Prisoners Our Mission The Mission of Dismas of Vermont Is To Reconcile Prisoners With Society And Society With Prisoners. What is Dismas? Dismas House is a supportive community for former prisoners transitioning from incarceration and university/college students who are also in transition with their lives. Living in community accomplishes the Dismas mission of reconciliation. Community is fundamentally about relationship and it is precisely the relationship between the offender and their community that is broken, first by the crime committed and subsequently by the resulting incarceration. In reconciliation, wholeness is restored to the former prisoner and to society. Vermont presently has three residential programs. Buell Street Dismas (BSD) in Burlington was established in 1986 and Rutland Dismas House opened in 1990. In May 2008, we opened East Allen Dismas (EAD) in Winooski. We have instituted a Satellite Apartment Program (3/4 way) in both Burlington and Rutland to answer the great need for affordable and transitional housing. Residents who are in good standing and have spent at least three months at Dismas House may apply to live in one of our apartments, each apartment having three residents. They may live there six to twelve months, working to save enough funds to ensure a successful transition into independent living. Who Lives There? “Dismas is Family” aptly describes the daily rhythm in our transitional homes. Students and former prisoners live together in community, where there is active involvement of volunteers from the broader community. There is a spirit of open and participative decision-making by all members of the Dismas community where consensus decision making is practiced. We often have a Volunteer for Peace (VFP) in residence, who is part of an international work camp, coming for 3-6 months to live in community and to give support to the house, by working with staff. Many countries have been represented, i.e.: France, Germany, China, Japan, Russia, England, Korea and many others. It is a great learning experience for both residents and the VFP! What Do They Do? Life at Dismas House follows the natural rhythms of family life. During the day, Dismas residents go to work and/or to school. In the evening, all come together to share the evening meal and afterward they attend 12 step meetings, help with chores, prepare for the next day, re-connect with their families, relax, socialize with students, who may also be studying. The evening meal is the centerpiece of the day, where community building takes place. One of the chief ingredients is the presence of our volunteer cooks, as they come month after month and become an important part of the Dismas community. If the residential community and staff can be likened to the nuclear family, the volunteer cooks are the extended family: like cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. Our Model The first Dismas House was founded in 1974 in Nashville, TN, by Jack Hickey, OP a Chaplain at Vanderbilt University and student members involved in the Vanderbilt University Prison Project. Having worked as volunteers inside the prison, they recognized the great need for a supportive community, when prisoners transition from prison to the outside world. They realized that many prisoners had no place to live and little support once released. Because of this, they created Dismas House and invited former prisoners to live with them. This integrated model has proven effective for former prisoners, students and the community. It is significant that Dismas House was not born of a social scientist’s theories. Rather Dismas House was born of relationships. It was in relationship with prisoners that Jack Hickey and the Vanderbilt students learned of this great need for home and community. Jack and other members of the Dismas Inc staff provided great support to the Burlington VT Dismas House Planning Committee in 1985-86. Burlington opened in September 1986. Unfortunately, Jack died of cancer five months later, at age 51. It was neither scientific nor a technological breakthrough that led to the creation of Dismas House. It took some ordinary people, with hearts open enough to enter into relationships of caring with a societies unwanted, that has made Dismas House a reality. The Name Dismas Named for the repentant thief who was crucified with Jesus, Dismas House represents forgiveness and reconciliation. While Dismas House has always enjoyed the support of many different faith communities, it is not a religious organization.
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