February 2017
By Diane Strzelecki
The family visitation room at Stateville Prison (Crest Hill, Illinois) is where fathers try to reconnect with their families for a precious hour or two and make up for lost time. Thanks to an assistant warden’s request and the quick response of NID Deaconess Lori Wilbert, now one often sees fathers reading books to their children there.
It seems like a small change, but the books have made a big difference in the lives of inmates and their families. “The dads and the kids love them!” Wilbert says. “It’s great to have something a parent can use, during visits, to bond with their kids.”
The books are one of several changes happening at Stateville, and Wilbert is happy to be a part of it all. She’s spent 32 years as a deaconess, with 30 years in prison ministry teaching classes, facilitating group discussions, performing chaplaincy duties, and more.
With all the red tape, regulations and security, Wilbert can’t easily influence institutional change, but she has influenced the lives of many prisoners, bringing them hope and healing in spirit. Recent positive developments at Stateville align perfectly with her ministry.
In summer 2016, Stateville designated two infirmary cells as hospice cells. Previously, the infirmary in the health care unit contained 20 beds—all individual cells that remained locked 24/7. The newly designated hospice cells are kept unlocked, making it easier for a nurse to attend to the inmate quickly to manage distress or pain—or even just to be with him in his last minutes.
Wilbert immediately developed a hospice ministry. “I saw it as an opportunity to advocate for humane medical care and minister to the inmates at the end of their lives,” she says. The first two hospice inmates passed away in early 2017; one of them was an individual Wilbert had met 10 years ago in the general prison population.
“He taught everyone around him about courage because of how he lived with cancer,” Wilbert says, noting that the inmate had hoped he would go home to die after his diagnosis, but gracefully accepted his status.
“It was quite a journey—we had many conversations about the ability of people to change; in fact, he’s actually written a book of poetry on the topic,” she says. “His life is proof that God is accessible for all people.”
Another new program at Stateville serves the severely mentally ill living in segregation. These inmates are now allowed to leave their cells for mental health and chaplaincy programs. Wilbert teaches and leads discussions about empathy, spirituality, choices, and meaning in light of God’s love to a class of seven to nine men.
The environment itself is challenging—the inmates are brought to the cafeteria in chains and shackled to the tables—but after six weeks, Wilbert already was seeing a positive shift.
“It’s an opportunity to reach people that I wouldn’t normally be reaching,” she says. “We’ve had some good discussions. People really do respond to these messages of hope.”
Wilbert’s ministry has focused on bringing light to Stateville inmates, and now she has also helped to bring color into their lives. At the request of the assistant warden of programs and with the support of Lutheran Women’s Missionary League groups, Wilbert purchased $300 worth of acrylic paints for creating murals on the hospice cell walls, the hallway outside the infirmary, and in the family visiting room.
Talented Stateville inmate artists designed countryside and beach scenes, which bring peace and light to visiting families and hospice inmates alike.
Wilbert’s work “behind the wall” is informed by a very simple statement: God is always working among us even in the most difficult places we may find ourselves.
“I believe [inmates] are at a place where they need the comfort of a God who loves them and a Savior who guides them,” she says, adding that the church has a big role to play in the prison setting.
“Whenever there’s been an opportunity to share God’s grace at Stateville, I’ve jumped,” Wilbert says. “Please pray for both victims and offenders. When you’re in darkness, you need the light.”