Latest Bess O’Brien Film to Be Shown on February 21 at Rockingham Free Public Library:
‘Coming Home’ documentary discusses the transition from prison to community
Greater Falls Community Justice Center and Greater Falls Connections have teamed up to put on a showing of the latest Bess O’Brien documentary, titled Coming Home. The event will take place on Thursday, February 21st at 6:30pm at the Rockingham Free Public Library. The showing is free and open to the public.
Coming Home is a documentary film that looks at five people returning back to their Vermont communities from prison. The film focuses on the innovative COSA program (Circle of Support and Accountability) that helps reintegrate folks back into their daily lives. The COSA program is run through Vermont’s Community Justice Centers and is part of the restorative justice model. The film first premiered in the fall of 2018, and this showing is part of a tour Vermont.
Mike Malick of the Greater Falls Community Justice Center has been the lead facilitator for COSA groups in our area. According to Malick, “We work with people who were formerly incarcerated, because they are here in our community. We are all worthy of attention, and we all have needs.”
Malick added, “Vermont uses this program more than any other state in the country. Part of the population thinks that it is weak to treat our previously incarcerated clients fairly. But this work is rewarding. We do this work, because after people have been incarcerated, they often don’t have anything. The clients are in need and are often starting out with nothing when they return to the community.”
COSA’s are made up of community volunteers who meet once a week with offenders returning back to their towns and cities. The idea of the COSA model is to “walk with a core member as he or she transitions from prison to community.” Folks coming out of prison meet once a week for a year with their volunteer group, enabling them to create strong bonds of support, friendship, and accountability as they work to become healthy members of society. Prisoners who are placed in COSA’s often include sex offenders, those convicted of drug-related crimes, and felons. The rate of recidivism drops when folks are involved with a COSA team.
According to Deb Witkus, Outreach Coordinator with Greater Falls Connections, “We know that COSAs help families to heal and can help to break the generational cycle of addiction. Our partnership with the Greater Falls Community Justice Center is essential to the work we do to create the change we all want to see.”
Coming Home is a film that takes an intimate and powerful look at this COSA process, the struggles and challenges of folks coming out of prison and the successes of the restorative justice model. Following the showing, Bess O’Brien and Susie Belleci, Director of the Greater Falls Restorative Justice Center, will lead a discussion on the impact of COSA and how the model is being utilized in the Greater Falls area. O’Brien is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and theatre producer. According to her website, Bess O’Brien co-founded Kingdom County Productions with her husband Jay Craven in 1991. She made the documentary The Hungry Heart, about the prescription drug crisis in Vermont and the compassionate work of Dr. Fred Holmes. The film has been widely used to start community discussions on the topic of opiate addiction across the state.
This event is hosted by Greater Falls Community Justice Center, Greater Falls Connections, Rockingham Free Public Library, Turning Point Recovery Center of Springfield, and Parks Place Community Resource Center. The Rockingham Free Public Library is located at 65 Westminster St, Bellows Falls, VT. For more information, contact Deb Witkus from Greater Falls Connections at 802-463-9927 x212 or Michael Malick from Greater Falls Community Justice Center 802-463-9927.
Belleci says, “Sitting with Bellows Falls community members in a circle with someone who’s done harm and been harmed gives me such hope. We here in Bellows Falls don’t have to wait for Washington to solve our problems, or Montpelier to solve our problems. Among our neighbors and friends and coworkers here in Bellows Falls, we have the strength and resilience to be with those who’ve made some mistakes, even very serious mistakes, and hold them accountable while at the same time offering our support so it doesn’t happen again. Bellows Falls has a long, proud history of taking care of their own. It’s what I love about Bellows Falls.”
She added, “We have a phrase in our work that guides us and it is a two-part phrase that must go together: ‘No more victims, and, no one is disposable.’ We take both of those concepts completely to heart in our COSA work.”