A Way Home Program Success Story:
Second Chance, A Life at the Turning Point

June 2010:

“Mapp,” as he is affectionately known by almost everyone, looms largely in the doorway
of The Way Home Program‘s Georgetown office. He is muscular and keeps in shape by lifting wooden packing boxes at a Milford chicken processing plant and from bricklaying with another small company in Harbeson. Those company owners were only two of many who saw Mapp‘s value and integrity and offered him a second chance.

Mapp smiles broadly as his Case Manager, Tony Neal, joins him. They clap each other on the shoulder and hug, overt evidence of their mutual respect and caring.

Mapp is one of The Way Home‘s “success stories.” Starting first as a prison Bible Study under the umbrella of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware, a small volunteer group from St. Martha‘s Episcopal Church in Bethany Beach felt called to help incarcerated men and women and mentor those leaving prison and beginning a new life.

After two years of operating with volunteers, in 1998, The Way Home was organized as an interfaith community ministry supporting men and women in their transition from prison to home or into the community. One of the first volunteers, Barbara Del Mastro, was hired as the program‘s director and eventually the program became an independent, non-profit program with many churches, community supporters, volunteers and mentors, and a board of directors.

Ms.Del Mastro comments, “I met Mapp in 2001 at the monthly Bible Studies in prison. He was quiet, thoughtful, and very shy, but I could tell he was absorbing every word being spoken. I will never forget picking him up at the prison gates after his long incarceration. His first act of mercy was helping me get my crippled German shepherd up into her yard from the basement stairs, where she was crying for help. Mapp has shown great courage and determination in coming from a traumatic past and working his way to a positive life and hopeful future. We rejoice with him in his achievements and are here to listen and to help when he needs.”

Mapp was incarcerated for 16 years at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown due to some poor choices made as a teenager. His early childhood and teenage years were fraught with abuse and neglect. Shifted from an abusive home to relatives‘ abusive homes in several states, in and out of children‘s homes, in and out of a Baltimore Job Corps facility, in and out of trouble, subject to atrocities he is unable to talk about, despair and hurt, prison might have seemed like his only safe place. “I know how it feels not to have a roof over my head,” he explains with tears in his eyes. While incarcerated, there was a time he was considered for early release. “I didn‘t want to leave,” he admits.

In 1999, Mapp met one of The Way Home volunteers conducting a Bible Study, Father Max Wolf, rector of All Saints‘ Episcopal Church in Rehoboth Beach and St. George‘s Chapel in Harbeson. Faithfully attending the Bible Studies, Mapp came to trust Father Max. “I began to have a new outlook on life. I realized there were people who cared about me,” declared Mapp with a wide grin. “They gave me a home,” he continues.

Father Max and Tony Neal, Mapp‘s case manager at The Way Home, became his benefactors encouraging and mentoring him while Mapp was in prison. In 2007, upon Mapp‘s release from prison, he stayed in a motel for a week and then at “Tony‘s House,” a transitional home in Georgetown. Two weeks later he landed a masonry job in Harbeson and for two years has been employed with a Milford chicken processing plant. Tony Neal taught him to drive. “We built a relationship,” explains Tony. “He is like a son to me. He really needed guidance that he never got when he was growing up.”

“It is a great joy for me to witness Mapp‘s extraordinary progress over these years, first inside prison through his spiritual growth, and now outside in his success in sharing the American dream,” comments Fr. Max. “It takes great courage and steadfastness to accomplish so much. I am proud of him and love him like a brother.”

Mapp still struggles to maintain his new life. “When I‘m discouraged, I call Mr. Neal. One time, when I was scared, I wanted to go back to prison. Mr. Neal encouraged me and said prison wouldn‘t solve anything.” With Tony‘s support and counsel, Mapp is facing the future with confidence. “I can now identify trouble and turn away,” Mapp concludes.

Financed by a low-interest U.S Department of Agriculture loan, a few weeks ago, Mapp moved into his own three-bedroom house on a quiet Milford street. Tony comments, “At first Mapp was confused by all the paperwork and was discouraged when he was turned down. He was determined and kept pressing on. I‘m proud of him. He wanted something different for his life. He handles things differently. I mentored him and he mentored me.”

Mapp proudly shows off his large newly-cut yard with a large tree overshadowing the front porch. “Sometimes I can‘t believe it. My family always said I wasn‘t worth nothing. Now I have a car and my own home and I‘m looking forward to having a family. If it wasn‘t for Miss Barbara, Father Max, and Mr. Tony, I would have nothing and nowhere to go. They‘ve been with me all the way. They let people know they‘re not alone.”

It‘s not the end of the line for Mapp. He wants to mentor youths. “I can relate to them. I want to prevent them from going to jail. If I can reach one young person it will trickle down and he or she will want that change in his life, just as I did. I got to make sure my life is together before I do this.”

“We all make mistakes. It doesn‘t mean we shouldn‘t have dignity and human rights, Father Max explains. “We are all God‘s children. The Way Home ministry is not only for participants but to connect our society to the needs of others.”

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