No one should have to rebuild life alone.
For 60 years, M2W2 volunteers have visited people in BC prisons and stayed beside them after release. Rooted in Hope is a $2 million campaign to match more people with a mentor and to open The Carpenter, a woodshop where people coming home can learn a trade and earn a paycheque.
Rooted in Hope · 60th anniversary campaign
Hundreds of people are waiting to be matched with a mentor.
Why it matters
Many people in prison have few consistent relationships outside the institution, and that isolation often follows them out the door. Right now, M2W2 volunteers meet with more than 180 people across 10 correctional institutions in BC. Hundreds more have asked for a mentor and are still waiting.
Every mentor who walks into a prison is there because someone paid for the training, the travel, and the staff who made the match. Your gift is how that waiting list gets shorter.
About half
of people released from custody in British Columbia are reconvicted within two years.
Source: British Columbia Justice and Public Safety Council, 2015
Last year at M2W2
107
people mentored inside correctional institutions
62
people supported after release through No One Leaves Alone (NOLA)
30
people gained work experience at Hidden Treasures Thrift Store
4,863
hours given by 120 volunteer mentors
“I cleaned up my act, I had to do that myself. But knowing that Brent was coming every week really helped.”
John met his mentor, Brent, because he wanted someone to talk to. Today, John works on the front lines helping other people get into treatment.
Names have been changed.
Where your gift goes
$1,350,000
A home for The Carpenter
Purchase of the Alexander Building, including $640,000 in equity from the sale of M2W2’s Mission building.
$500,000
Renovations and equipment
The tools, infrastructure, and production systems that turn the building into a working shop.
$790,000
Mentorship and programs
More mentor matches, training and support for volunteers, and the staff to keep both going.
A woodshop where people coming home can learn a trade and earn a wage.
Participants are paid to build furniture that sells to real customers. Their trade hours are tracked toward apprenticeship and Red Seal certification. Mentors work at the next bench, and faith and conversation are part of an ordinary day in the shop. M2W2 is building partnerships with local employers so graduates have somewhere to go next.
The Carpenter
“We are giving those impacted by incarceration a purpose for work and opportunity to know Jesus through their work in the community.”
Steve Roukema, Executive Director
Goals for 2029
60 participants each year
8 staff, half of them people with lived experience of incarceration
30 volunteer mentors in the shop
$500,000 a year in furniture and product sales, enough for the shop to cover its own costs
Give to Mentorship
We invite you to prayerfully consider a gift to Rooted in Hope. Gifts of every size count toward the goal. If you’re thinking about a leadership or multi-year gift, Steve would be glad to talk with you.
