February 22, 2017

Residents Encounter Christ program marks 100th weekend at Ludlow jail

REGIONAL
Story and photos by Stephen Kiltonic

Deacon Bill Toller; Paula Matukaitis, lay director; John Tenbrooke, rector and board member; retired Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe Jr.: and Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi are pictured at the recent REC weekend.

LUDLOW – The Residents Encounter Christ (REC) program celebrated 35 years of faithful service to the incarcerated men and women of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department with its 100th weekend retreat held Feb. 18-20 at the Hampden County Correctional Center, here.

Attending the event was the recently retired Hampden County sheriff, Michael J. Ashe Jr.; the current Hampden County sheriff, Nicholas Cocchi; various volunteers of the REC jail ministry community, including Deacon Bill Toller, one of the founders of the program; Paula Matukaitis, lay director of REC; and John Tenbrooke, the rector and a board member of REC.

According to Toller, the REC program was started at the old York Street Jail in 1982 by Deacon Bob Morrissey who instituted the program at the Worcester County Jail and, in turn, brought it to Hampden County. Many of the early volunteers, including Ray LaFlamme and Al DiPietro, were from either Holy Name or Holy Cross parishes in Springfield. Although at the time there were “many doubting Thomases,” Sheriff Ashe said he was open to the idea of a program that moved inmates away from a “warehouse” concept.

“The motivating factor was the spiritual enrichment of the inmates. The theme of the REC group is that Christ lies in each of us and what we’re really trying to do is build on that aspect and provide that kind of experience,” Ashe said.  

Ashe said that many inmates with a long history of drug dependency and/or mental health issues have made “poor judgment, poor decisions” in their life. “The great thing about this program, in my opinion, is that it provides dignity and worth to them and shows their potential, but more particularly, helps them connect with God or that higher being and gives them that moral compass to look at.”

Ashe added that the impact on the residents is incredible, especially when they reconnect with their families, their wives, or their significant others. “We’ve also have former inmates who were part of the program come back and are now providing leadership roles and talking about their spiritual experience and what they do for God each day in the community. And so, it’s wonderful. It’s a great program and I’m very, very proud of it.”

Sheriff Cocchi has been involved in REC during his 23 years of service in the Sheriff’s Department. “What I have watched firsthand is the transformation of men who come here lost, that find themselves and they really appreciate and grab onto that faith-based connection with Christ,” he said. He praised the many REC volunteers who “spend time with the men who are at a very dark place in their life, trying to bring them back up and help them see their value and their self-worth.”

Since its inception, the REC program has also branched out to the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center (WCC) and the Western Massachusetts Recovery and Wellness Center. In addition, funds from the Springfield Diocese’s Annual Catholic Appeal go toward the purchase of Bibles for all participants in REC.

Roland Fils and his wife, Sylvia Brice-Fils, pose at the recent REC weekend at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow.

Deacon Toller said with the current opioid crisis comes “a sense of hopelessness – that there is no chance that I can recover and REC offers a tremendous sense of hope. The folks that are in recovery here, and are beginning that process, take what they learn in REC and realize that a relationship with God is a very real thing.”

Deacon Toller said that by the time REC comes to a close Sunday night, he knows many lives have been transformed. “Some of the personal testimonies that the inmates offer are so incredibly heart-wrenching and you realize people got what we’re doing here and the spirit of God has really touched their lives,” said Deacon Toller, who estimates that more than 6,000 inmates have been impacted by the REC program over the years.

One former inmate, now a REC volunteer and board member, is Roland Fils. In 2006, Fils said he was mistakenly arrested for trafficking cocaine. While he was awaiting trial in the Ludlow facility, Fils joined REC and its follow-up Wednesday night program. “At the time, I was lost, lonely. I didn’t have no one to call or no one to visit me,” said Fils.  

Fils believes REC became his “family” when he had none to turn to here. “I never had a relationship with God. I never knew what the love of God really is,” he said. “But through the REC ministry, they actually showed me love. They put love in practice –for them to come and spend the whole weekend with me, hugging me and being there for me.”  

Fils feels that through the REC program he also learned forgiveness. “Even though I know that those police that arrested me make a mistake and there was reason for me to have anger, if Christ can forgive me, I must forgive them.”

After five and half years of being held awaiting trial, Fils was found not guilty during his second trial and released. Since then, he has continued to be part of REC along with his wife, Sylvia Brice-Fils. Fils has become a deacon and Bible teacher at his church. He also visits Haiti, the country of his birth, on a regular basis supplying food and medicine after Hurricane Matthew devastated the island. He also hopes to eventually raise enough money to build a church and school in the town where he grew up.

Fils is also involved in the REC program outside, in the community, at the Trinity United Church in Springfield.

“Through REC, God provides for me everything I need,” said Fils. “It’s an honor to be part of this ministry and I will continue giving what I’ve been given.”

A special segment on the REC 100th weekend retreat will  be featured on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel,”  which airs Saturday evenings at 7 on WWLP-22NEWS.