Volunteer with Person2Person (P2P)
P2P is a prison visitation program matching individuals for the purpose of establishing friendships. It’s goal is to restore offenders to wholeness and to the community.
Visitors are provided with thorough orientation and training prior to visiting.
Though visitors may experience some fear and apprehension as they consider visiting, prisoner 
visitation has existed for over 30 years in Canada without incident. Prisoners respectfully await their visitors’ arrival and soon the visiting room is filled with laughter and the buzz of friendly chatter.
A P2P Coordinator, or institutional staff person, is always present in the room of P2P visitors and inmates, and they will assist you with any concerns or questions.
P2P staff are highly committed to the prisoner-visitor relationships and encourage open communication with them.
Your willingness to visit means a great deal to the offender who has probably waited many months since applying for P2P visits.
Following are some quote from P2P volunteer visitors:
“A whole new world of understanding opened up. I felt like I had learned a lot just in one visit.”
“It has been a part of my spiritual home. My God got bigger.”
“We share a lot things about our lives. It helps me and it helps him too. It’s a two-way process. It’s a very good match. I’ve done a lot of work on myself and made a lot of changes. He has some issues and we talk about them and I try to help. He really enjoys that.”
Volunteer with Forward Step (inside)
Forward Step is a place of connection, in a group setting, between people of faith and people who are in prison.
This is a leadership opportunity that fits well with people who have experience in the area of social work, education, addictions or group facilitation.
The meetings take place at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre on Tuesday mornings from 10 – 11 am. The process utilizes a sharing circle and is growing toward a greater degree of sensitivity to Aboriginal people.
Volunteer with CoSA (Circles of Support and Accountability)
A circle of support and accountability is a small group of volunteers that assists a released sex offender to establish a responsible, healthy a law-abiding lifestyle after incarceration. In return the Core Member agrees to live responsibly and be accountable for his behaviour.
Though volunteers may experience some apprehension as they consider meeting with sex offenders, the group-setting has proven to be safe and supportive for everyone i
nvolved. Further to this, volunteers are provided with thorough orientation and training prior to joining a CoSA.
Volunteers come together as a group (aka ‘circle’) to offer support. The initial two to three months after the offender’s release may require a few hours of commitment per week. As the offender (also called Core Member) becomes more comfortable in the community, the demands on the circle decreases.
Following is a quote from a CoSA volunteer:
I must admit that I was a bit skeptical when I first joined a CoSA wondering what good this would actually do in the life of someone who has just been released from prison. Especially since it appeared that we were merely to meet and chat. I found myself asking, “How will a weekly coffee and group chat help an individual get back on their feet and prevent further offenses?” What I found is that in comradery, we began to find or build commonality. Oh sure, the first couple of meetings were a bit stiff and less than relaxing, but that changed soon enough. There are things that happen in the meetings every week that produce some intangible yet very real relational effects. It is in the weekly comradery of conversation and accountability that seeds of trust and compassion are planted.
