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- Each October, the nonprofit Friends of Guest House (FoGH) holds a graduation ceremony, hosted by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Alexandria, Va., to honor women who’ve completed its reentry program. Photo: Courtesy of FoGH
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- Kate Costa (left), pastor of Good Shepherd, receives the community partnership award from FoGH President Board President Deborah Minor at the organization’s 50th anniversary gala in June. Photo: Courtesy of FoGH
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- FoGH residents hold lunch boxes donated by a Good Shepherd member who sewed hearts onto them in honor of International Women’s Day. Photo: Courtesy of FoGH
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- On “God’s Work, Our Hands.” Sunday, Good Shepherd members make blessing blankets that each FoGH resident will receive at graduation ceremonies. Courtesy of Good Shepherd
Starr Edwards traveled a troubled road that led to incarceration. But aided by an Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit and a neighboring ELCA congregation, she’s now on a path filled with possibility.
“I like my life,” Edwards said. “It’s a big change from where I came from.”
Growing up in a difficult household, Edwards became “involved with the wrong people” and began using substances as a coping mechanism.
“My mother was married to an abusive man, and it was a way to escape without leaving,” she said. “It was a life of addiction; I used to get high every chance I got. I lived for it.”
A collision course with the criminal justice system was the predictable result.
After multiple arrests and two unsuccessful attempts at rehab, Edwards received a five-year sentence for drug distribution. She used her time in prison as an opportunity for healing and reflection, which led her to a realization that she believes was inspired by God.
Friends of Guest House is the largest women’s reentry program in Virginia.
“I was sober, and I liked it,” she said. “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired—I didn’t want that anymore. It was my time.”
Still, Edwards knew it wouldn’t be easy to reenter a society filled with the temptations she had faced before. “I was scared of me; I wasn’t ready for the streets,” she said. When she learned about Friends of Guest House, a residential program for women leaving incarceration, she applied and was accepted.
Funded by a mix of tax dollars and philanthropy, Friends of Guest House (FoGH) is a 30-bed operation that provides mentoring, mental health and substance abuse counseling, and training in life skills (parenting, résumé building, financial literacy).
FoGH is the largest women’s reentry program in Virginia, with a six-month term that can be extended to 18 months through an after-care component.
“It’s a good start for women after incarceration,” said Lewis Eggleston, an ELCA deacon and the director of marketing and generosity for FoGH. “They can build up savings for a security deposit or emergency funds and establish a foundation with probation.”
Struggles and blessings
Among FoGH’s partners is Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, located a block away from the organization in Alexandria.
Each October, FoGH holds a graduation ceremony, hosted by Good Shepherd, to honor women who’ve completed the reentry program. Each graduate receives a blessing blanket made by members of the congregation, along with pearl earrings purchased by Kiwanis Club members.
“They talk about how a pearl is made out of irritation, a speck of sand irritated under pressure, and it turns out to be something ultimately beautiful,” Eggleston said. “They compare it to the struggle these women have had, and it’s a beautiful moment. Good Shepherd is the host for all this community to come together and celebrate these women in recovery.”
Kate Costa, pastor of Good Shepherd, has a personal, long-term connection to the mission of organizations such as FoGH.
“My father was a capital defense attorney,” she said, “and as a child I saw the criminal justice system and the horrors it can wreak on people’s lives, even if it’s trying to be fair and just. I absolutely understand the need for these types of ministries and programs. I’m a firm believer in our system, but there are big gaps.”
In June, Friends of Guest House celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala where Good Shepherd was presented with a community partnership award.
Costa grew up in a congregation that included several attorneys. “Lawyers get a bad rap, but they’re trying to make people’s lives whole,” she said. “Friends of Guest House is another step toward that, and it’s fantastic.”
In June, FoGH celebrated its 50th anniversary with a gala where Good Shepherd was presented with a community partnership award. The congregation averages 115 attendees for worship, Costa said, and about half the members have been involved in helping FoGH in some way.
Costa and Good Shepherd members regularly deliver meals to FOGH and have hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for its clients.
“We’re a place that cares very deeply about social justice and living out our faith and making it tangible and real for people,” she said. “This isn’t something that’s far away from us. Most of us have been touched by incarceration, though we may not realize it; sometimes it’s filled with shame.”
Now a shift leader at a Dunkin’ donut shop, Edwards will graduate from FoGH on Oct. 26, after almost a year and a half, and move into a place of her own. She describes Good Shepherd as “absolutely amazing. … All the time they’re sending donations: clothes, makeup. Anything the girls want and need, they send it. I’m touched; they really hope to change my life, and they forever have a spot in my soul.”
