Anonymous benefactors chipped in to save a Christian faith-based prison program that was scheduled to be shuttered because of declining donations, its director said Monday.
Scott McLean, the founder and director of the nonprofit Pathways to Freedom, said "several" donors came forward because of an article in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about the plan to end the program at the Department of Correction.
He added that the pledges amounted to "several hundred thousand dollars," which would allow the program to remain afloat for the time being. McLean estimated in Sunday's article that the program -- which serves about 200 inmates at the Hawkins Unit in Wrightsville -- costs about $500,000 a year to properly run.
"There's been a lot more sustainability and movement since the article," McLean said. "There are a lot that called in and did not want to see it go."
McLean said he would not reveal the source of the donations, as they wished to remain anonymous.
Prison spokesman Solomon Graves said Monday that officials were supportive of the decision to keep offering the program.
Pathways to Freedom is the only private enterprise to operate a prison program with its own dedicated facility in Arkansas. The Correction Department provided the corrections officers and staff, as well as prisoners' food, clothing and housing.
The nonprofit -- with a paid staff of six, in addition to volunteers -- covered the costs associated with its daily program for inmates. The program focused around vocational training, addiction treatment and behavior courses, as well as Bible study.
A lease agreement between the program and the Department of Correction provided the use of the Hawkins Unit at no cost in exchange for the services of the program, which aims to reduce recidivism, a prison spokesman said. The nonprofit received no public funding from the state.
In a letter to supporters and the Department of Correction sent Aug. 29, McLean said the nonprofit would cease operations in October, and would need about $60,000 just to keep it running until then.
Despite a spike in annual donations that reached more than $500,000 in 2014, officials said the group struggled to maintain donations from churches and other faith groups, which they described as a pillar of the program's support.
At the same time, rising costs associated with paying for materials, staff benefits and payroll taxes left the group with $444,111 in expenses last year, about $100,000 more than it took in, according to tax documents nonprofits must file. Last year's form shows McLean earned a total of $82,078 as the group's director.
The tax forms do not disclose the group's main contributors.
The Arkansas-based nonprofit grew out of the Inner-Change Freedom Initiative, which operated programs for both men and women at the Department of Correction before the Inner-Change Freedom Initiative withdrew from Arkansas and several other states in 2011 because of financial difficulties.
Pathways to Freedom, which only serves men, has graduated 279 prisoners from its 18-month program since 2011. A total of 831 inmates volunteered to begin the course, McLean said, with some dropping out and others being paroled before graduating.
Former inmates who complete the in-prison program can also participate in a yearlong outside component in which they are paired with a mentor. Program officials do not actually track how many graduates end up returning to prison.
McLean sent Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley an email Monday informing her the nonprofit no longer planned to cancel its lease with the Hawkins Unit and wished to continue offering the program.
Metro on 09/27/2016