Our Work
What We Do
JRJI brings Ignatian retreats and spiritual accompaniment inside California correctional institutions, creating spaces where incarcerated men and women can reflect on their lives, relationships, faith, responsibility, forgiveness, healing, and hope.
Our retreats incorporate Gospel reflection, Ignatian contemplation, personal writing, small-group sharing, storytelling, art, and restorative practices. Rather than simply bringing a program into a prison, JRJI builds long-term relationships and communities of accompaniment.
Our work continues beyond prison walls. JRJI accompanies formerly incarcerated individuals and families impacted by incarceration as they navigate healing, reentry, relationships, and rebuilding their lives. We also create opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people to share their stories, artwork, and experiences with the wider community.
Programs in Prisons and Youth Facilities
Restorative Justice: Jesus the Risen Prisoner Retreat
These retreats guide incarcerated men and youth through a process of self-awareness, empathy, and spiritual healing. Participants are introduced to Ignatian spirituality, including meditation, contemplation, and discernment. They encounter God who sees beyond their crimes — offering healing, not condemnation.
The retreats create space for deep reflection and transformation. Many participants report restored family ties, healing from trauma, and renewed purpose even while incarcerated.
Community-Based Services
Parents & Families Support Group
JRJI offers support groups rooted in restorative justice for families affected by incarceration or violence. Through guided meditation and shared storytelling, parents of incarcerated youth and victims of crime gather to process grief and find healing together.
Community-Based Services
Graduate Support Group
Our Graduate Group welcomes those who were once incarcerated and participated in JRJI retreats. These support gatherings offer spiritual companionship, accountability, and resources as they transition back into the community.
Advocacy
Advocacy & Education
JRJI believes that restorative justice also requires education, awareness, and advocacy. We bring the experiences and voices of people impacted by incarceration into churches, schools, universities, Jesuit institutions, community organizations, and the wider public.
Through presentations, community events, artwork, testimonies, and conversations with formerly incarcerated leaders and families, JRJI educates communities about the realities of incarceration and the human impact of the criminal justice system.
Our advocacy is rooted in human dignity, reconciliation, and restorative justice. We seek to challenge the stigma surrounding incarceration, promote more compassionate responses to crime and harm, and advocate for systems and communities that recognize the possibility of healing, transformation, accountability, and second chances.
Most importantly, we seek to ensure that the voices and lived experiences of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people are included in conversations that directly affect their lives.
Legislation We’ve Supported
SB 1391 — Juveniles: Fitness for Juvenile Court
Repeals the ability to transfer 14- and 15-year-olds to adult court for certain offenses.
SB 1437 — Felony Murder Reform
Limits accomplice liability in felony murder cases to those who had direct involvement or intent.
SB 9 — Housing Development
Senate Bill 9 (SB 9), the Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, is a California law that aims to increase housing supply across the State.
SB 260, 261 — Youth Offender Parole
Ensures youth serving life sentences are eligible for parole consideration.
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Our Work
Resources & Publications
41 states · 29 countries
JRJI’s ministry reaches far beyond California. Our resources and publications currently reach correctional communities in 41 states across the United States and 29 countries around the world.
These materials include liturgical guides, spiritual reflections, meditations, and retreat resources designed for use inside correctional institutions. Chaplains, volunteers, prison ministers, and others use these resources to facilitate prayer, reflection, retreats, and spiritual accompaniment with incarcerated communities.
Through these publications, the experience and spirituality developed through JRJI’s ministry can reach places where our team may never be physically present, helping build a wider community of accompaniment across the United States and around the world.
Our Work
Our Approach
JRJI’s ministry is grounded in the Jesuit tradition of finding God in all things and going to the places where accompaniment is most needed. We seek to create spaces where people can encounter God, recognize their own dignity, take responsibility for harm, experience healing, and discover the possibility of restoration.
We work alongside prison chaplains, correctional institutions, Jesuit ministries, schools and universities, community organizations, formerly incarcerated leaders, volunteers, families, and supporters.
Whether inside a prison, through a retreat, a letter, a publication, education and advocacy, or accompaniment back in the community, JRJI seeks to remind our brothers and sisters:
You are not forgotten.
Your story matters.
There is always reason to hope.
The Crossing