Changing Hearts and Lives

Working behind prison walls and serving the most marginalized isn’t where Fr. Zachariah Presutti, S.J., M.Div. ’21 saw himself when he first joined the Jesuits.

His call to the cloth came from his deep faith in Jesus—“a gift” from his parents—and through the connections he made with the Jesuit priests during his undergrad experience at Canisius College.

The son and grandson of a Justice of the Peace in a small town, Fr. Presutti was raised with a clear sense of right and wrong. While well-intentioned, it created a sense in him that people in jail were different from him.

So, it was a “surprise from the spirit” when he was assigned by his novice master to serve a local correctional facility in Onondaga County, New York. Once behind bars, instead of seeing himself a saint among sinners, he was struck by a palpable shared humanity between himself and the people he was serving.

“We had much more in common than we do different,” he recalls. “I am acutely aware of my own transgressions in life. They just got caught. I didn’t.”

Through offering spiritual services there and later at Rikers Island, he recognized many inmates’ deep desire for a connection to God. So, he followed that call and began organizing spiritual retreats for inmates built around the teachings of St. Ignatius.

Giving people the opportunity to transform behind bars has since evolved into an entire ethos of care—one which continues after release and helps formerly incarcerated people with housing, education, and other life-changing opportunities. The Thrive For Life Prison Project now operates in nine correctional institutes and runs three post-incarceration houses of study in New York and Wisconsin.

In recognition of its holistic impact on the lives of hundreds of currently and formerly incarcerated people, Thrive For Life was selected as a finalist for the 2024 Opus Prize, which will be hosted by Santa Clara University from November 11-15. The Opus Prize is given annually to recognize unsung heroes, anywhere in the world, solving today’s most persistent social problems.

God in all places

Finding sacredness in all things is one of the core values held by the Society of Jesus. And, according to Fr. Presutti, God is as much in prisons as He is anywhere else.

“It can be a hellish place behind the wall,” he says, “and often people are looking for something to hold onto in the midst of that darkness.”

From his experience, the Ignatian practices he leads during monthly spiritual retreats within prison are that light for many inmates. These can include Gospel readings, a daily examen, meditations, and other exercises that help inmates discover healing, forgiveness, and God’s presence in their own lives.

Transformation happens beyond the activities they do together, says Fr. Presutti. It’s also come from creating a trusted space and a hospitable community that allows people to share what matters most in their lives.

When interviewed about the impact Thrive For Life had on him, Felix Pinero, an inmate at Otisville Correctional Institute, noted that the program helped him break the cycle of crime and violence he had been trapped in since being removed from his mother at age nine by child services.

“I used to say ‘I want to go home’ and ‘I hope this appeal goes through,’” Pinero stated, “and today, I’m like, ‘Thank God I didn’t get out before I changed.’”

Hearing the stories of what people have gone through in their lives and where they are headed is a continual source of inspiration for Fr. Presutti who says this endless potential for transformation is really possible when people are open to that change.

“It’s a miracle and a privilege to get to have this front-row seat for what God is doing in people’s lives during their conversions and moments of redemption. It’s challenging and it’s utterly amazing.”

Beyond the bars

For all the talk about prison reform and giving “second chances” to the incarcerated, Fr. Presutti explains that many had never received a “first chance” to begin with. Serious poverty, dysfunctional families, and a lack of education, healthcare, and workforce training all contribute to the circumstances that can lead someone to a life behind bars.

“You don’t go to Rikers if you’re a rich person,” he quips.

This cycle can continue even if released. The current prison system does little to give former inmates the skills, tools, and resources to truly change the circumstances that may have led them to prison in the first place.

That’s why Thrive For Live continues accompanying inmates after their release, offering educational opportunities, which Fr. Presutti says can be “liberating” and “can open up things within you that you didn’t know existed.”

These “resident scholars” are invited to live within four community houses that Thrive For Life operates. In New York, Abraham House in the South Bronx hosts around 30 newly-release individuals, with some transferring to the Manhattan-based Ignacio House for a longer-term learning community. In Wisconsin, Thrive For Life recently celebrated the opening of Milwaukee House, its first transitional community in that state.

Resident scholars are allowed to stay in these intentional communities for as long as they’re pursuing their education—whether it’s a 180-day vocational certificate or a two-year degree. Thrive For Life also partners with dozens of schools to provide scholarships for these students, including prestigious universities like NYU, Columbia, and Marquette University.

Education creates a ripple effect on employment and finances that leads to a permanent and successful reentry, says Fr. Presutti. But for him, this work is about more than lowering recidivism rates.

“How do we love these brothers and sisters who are reentering from incarceration?” Fr. Presutti asks. “Well, it can’t be piecemeal. Low recidivism rates don’t matter if people are living on the street or in shelters. We should be measuring our care in terms of whether their lives are flourishing. And it’s got to be rooted in the dignity and worth of each human being.”

With these Jesuit values in mind and the support of the Opus Prize and other “good-willed people,” Fr. Presutti’s ambition is to scale Thrive For Life’s success across the country and anywhere the Society of Jesus operates to give that holistic care to people within and coming out of prison who are committed to change.

“Our mission has gone beyond the transformation of these inmates,” Fr. Presutti adds. “Through this type of accompaniment and sharing, my life and my faith have also been transformed.”