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Gateless Gate Zen Center Prison Program
We are a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides training in secular and scientifically-validated meditation practices to inmates. Meditation is a proven technique for learning to co-exist with and overcome stress, chronic pain, and addictive and cyclical behavior patterns. We also provide residence to former inmates via our residential program.
Quick Facts:
- Focus of initiative/program:
-
- Children and Families
- Mental Health
- Mentoring
- Substance Abuse
- Inititative/program name:
- Gateless Gate Zen Center Prison Program
- Year Established:
- 1998
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Gateless Gate Zen Center, Inc.
- Population served by initiative/program:
-
- Returning from local detention facilities
- Returning from local jails
- Returning from prison
- Not under community corrections supervision
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a violent offense
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Victims
Downloads
Gateless Gate Zen Center Prison Program
Contact:
John David EriksenGainesville, Florida
john.david.eriksen@gmail.com
Gateless Gate Zen Center Prison Program
Initiatives and Programs
- Focus of initiative/program:
-
- Children and Families
- Mental Health
- Mentoring
- Substance Abuse
- Inititative/program name:
- Gateless Gate Zen Center Prison Program
- Lead agency/organization name:
- Gateless Gate Zen Center, Inc.
- Funding sources for initiative/program:
- Community contributions, state funding, Kwan Um School of Zen membership dues.
- X
- X
Funding
Partners in the reentry initiative/program
| Informal Agreement | Formal Agreement (e.g., a written contract or an MOU) with this partner. |
|
| Institutional corrections (e.g., DOC, jail, prison): |
|
|
| Members of the community (e.g., people who have been incarcerated, their families or neighbors): |
|
Participants
- Population served by initiative/program:
-
- Returning from local detention facilities
- Returning from local jails
- Returning from prison
- Not under community corrections supervision
- Adults
- Men
- Women
- People convicted of a violent offense
- People convicted of a non-violent offense
- Victims
- Total number of people who have participated in initiative/program to date:
- An average of four hundred per year.
- Total number of people currently participating in initiative/program:
- Several hundred.
- Total number of people who can be served at one time:
- Several hundred reached via group classes.
Data Collection
- Does your organization collect demographic data on participants?
- No
- Does your organization collect data about the process of your initiative/program?
- No
- Does your organization measure and/or track the outcome of participation?
- Yes
- If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
- We don't have a formal process of collecting data at the moment, but can list rough estimates of success rates. Participants in our program tend to have a lower-than-average re-incarceration rate.
Activities
- What, if any, activities does your initiative/program include for people while they are incarcerated and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- Meditation training. This is an eight-week course followed by an intense five-day meditation retreat. Meditation training draws primarily from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a technique developed and scientifically validated by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This technique allows an individual to understand and master their own emotions and thoughts, which is essential in allowing prisoners to be able to endure incarceration and then transition to a life outside of prison. All participants are volunteers.
- What activities does your organization engage in post-release and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
- Our organization offers free mentoring to those that ask for it. We also offer prisoners an opportunity to live at our residential location so long as they are currently enrolled in school and participate in the day-to-day meditation practice at the center. This residential program helps prisoners to transition to a life outside of prison in a supportive environment.
- How are people placed into your program?
- Strictly Volunteer Basis