This is not your garden-variety volunteer opportunity

Some of the most important but little-heralded volunteer work is done by those who work with the Connecticut Department of Corrections and serve in a variety of programs which help prison inmates.

As a result of their efforts, the number of inmates in our prisons has dropped by several thousand, despite the slow economic times.

Like most of us, I hadn’t really known or even thought much about what happens to those who are incarcerated until I happened to chat with Fran Acquarulo, a gentle, soft-spoken senior in my exercise swim class.

When I inquired what she enjoyed doing in her spare time, she began to tell me about her volunteer work in the prisons. I became so intrigued that I made an appointment with Doug Kulmacz, director of Volunteer and Recreation Services.

Their sprawling complex in Wethersfield resembles the Pentagon in Washington, but after being buzzed through several doors and checked by security, I found the inside offices light and cheerful, and Mr. Kulmacz himself, bubbling over with energy and enthusiasm.

The many different programs they have developed teach inmates skills that they hope will create a “pro-social” product that someday will result in a successful re-entry into society.

“In a sense, we are building people,” explains Kulmacz. “We need to work to reduce recidivism” (a return to prison).

Currently, 10,000 inmates, approximately half the state’s inmate population, participate on a monthly basis in recovery, rehabilitation or pre-release services provided by volunteers. The programs are only available to those inmates who follow the rules and who want to do something with their lives.

Volunteers may participate in many ways. They may facilitate alcoholics-, narcotics- or gamblers-anonymous meetings; teach drama or music classes; provide clerical assistance; coordinate recreational activities; or act as religious mentors.

Those who speak, read or write a language other than English are especially needed, and all volunteers can serve in a wide variety of locations. Volunteers can help prison inmates learn to make important and constructive changes in their lives. Continued...


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They are a special link between the inmate and the community, and they bring a sense of “normalcy” to the correctional setting.

The contribution of the volunteer places a responsibility on the offender to become focused and motivated, and it also can provide him or her with a sense of hope for the future.

Volunteers help prepare inmates for the general equivalency diploma exam, organize sports and recreational activities and support the families and children who are dealing with the problems of having a loved one confined.

There is a training and orientation program as well as a 5-hour, in-service, refresher course each year.

Volunteers are also instructed about the importance of confidentiality and discretion. I was able to view some fascinating inmate art work, a result of the artists-in-residence program.

There are also opportunities in the community working with parole officers, halfway houses and other facilities which help those returning to community life.

While there is a wide variety of opportunities, this kind of volunteer work is not for the impatient or the easily discouraged.

It takes a strong commitment and a belief in the eventual power of love and caring. In the front of the volunteer handbook, there is a quote of Winston Churchill: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

To find out more about volunteer opportunities, call Doug Kulmacz at 860-692-7580

- Article by Jean Cherni, founder of the retirement advisory service, Senior Living Solutions. Contact her at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 15 The Ponds at Hotchkiss Grove, Branford 06405.

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