Restoring lives: ABHMS partners with Exodus Foundation to support formerly incarcerated
VALLEY FORGE, PA (11/17/2025)—According to the Prison Policy Initiative, since 2002 the United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world: 614 people per 100,000 residents in 2024. This rate is roughly four times higher than the United Kingdom and nearly six times higher than Canada. At any given moment, about two million people are behind bars in the U.S.
Racial and ethnic disparities in prisons and jails are striking: Black people, who account for 14 percent of the U.S. population, make up 42 percent of the imprisoned population (a rate three times higher than their share of the population). Native Americans, who constitute 1 percent of the population, comprise 3 percent of the imprisoned (an incarceration rate similar to that of Black Americans).
Photo by Emiliano Bar on Unsplash
Men are and those aged 25–34 make up the . Meanwhile, white Americans, who account for 58 percent of the population, make up only 36 percent of the imprisoned. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Black men’s likelihood of becoming incarcerated in their lifetime is more than six times higher than that of white men.
The U.S. justice system is punitive rather than restorative. The American Civil Liberties Union reports that $80 billion is spent each year to maintain the prison complex. In contrast, reintegration programs for formerly incarcerated people are woefully underfunded. For example, in 2021, the Department of Justice spent only $111 million on reentry efforts.
In this situation, the reintegration and reentry programs depend largely on the nonprofit sector. The Exodus Foundation, who ABHMS has been partnering with since 2022, supports formerly incarcerated people with a special focus on Black returning citizens in that group, given their oppression under structural and systemic racism.
The foundation’s flagship initiative is Red Sea Crossings Mentoring and Scholarship Program, which pairs formerly incarcerated individuals with culturally competent mentors. Mentors provide 24-hour support in the areas of employment, education, housing, and personal development. The mentees can also receive educational and training scholarships.
Reentry programs like the Red Sea Crossings that combine mentoring, education, employment support, and housing assistance significantly reduce the likelihood that people will return to prison. Another program focuses on mobilizing congregations and faith leaders to engage in reentry ministry and systemic justice reform.
Most recently, ABHMS supported new mission efforts at the Exodus Foundation: telecare ministry to those returning from prison, recruitment of volunteers to reach communities and congregations, and collaboration with Shaw University Divinity School (in honor of the Foundation’s 25th anniversary).
“We will equip, train and prepare non-degree adult disciples to serve in the area of prison and reentry ministry to individuals and families,” said Rev. Dr. Madeline McClenney Roseboro, founder of the Exodus Foundation. “I am developing ministry formation clinics to be offered through the Shaw University Divinity School on topics relating to ministry to prisoners and their families. I am proud to say that ABHMS resources fuel the mission operating costs of many of these upgrades and services!”
In Luke 4:18-19, when Jesus begins his public ministry, he quotes the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the oppressed free.” Visit here to respond to Jesus’ call by partnering with ABHMS.
By Rev. Dr. Anna Piela, ABHMS senior writer and associate editor of The Christian Citizen
