Garza Law office donated Spanish-language Bibles to LITE for inmates. Pictured, from left, are Tammy Cotton, Tony Garza, Travis Neff, Elijah Neff and Sheriff Kyle Dukes. These Bibles are handed out to inmates of the Kosciusko County Jail.

By Nicholette Carlson
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — Last January a new all-encompassing jail ministry got its start, but was put on hold by the pandemic. Now the Living in Transition Effectively, or LITE, program is tentatively preparing to start up again.

The LITE program is a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to assisting incarcerated individuals make a successful transition to the community upon their release. The goal for Tammy Cotton, director of LITE, is to bring aspects of the Jail Chemical Addiction Program to the entire inmate population, but offer it in an a la carte style, where men and women can pick and choose what classes they want to take. She is planning on Bible study groups, book studies and life skills classes. Eventually she plans to offer GED and parenting classes as well.

Since more than 90% of the inmates in the jail suffer from addiction, she is also working on getting Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery meetings into the jail. In determining what programs and classes would best benefit the inmates, she had them fill out assessments asking what they needed. She is also planning on teaming up with Fellowship Missions and its mentor training to help connect inmates with outside mentors.

In jail, the inmates were not using, but they also weren’t receiving recovery training. Cotton realized, “People are falling through the cracks and it makes me sad because we’re not stopping the cycle.” Through LITE, she plans to help change that. She asked herself, “How can I fill in a part of the gap?”

The sheriff and jail commander are on board with utilizing LITE to help inmates learn triggers and educate them on tools and resources they have to overcome triggers. She is also collaborating with other area groups to help provide support.

One of the greatest projects Cotton has continued to work on during the last year is repurposing the jail library. She has been able to work on repainting and getting new bookshelves put in. There are now more than 700 paperback books for inmates to borrow once the library opens.

While working on the library and awaiting classes, Cotton has been busy collecting Bibles for the inmates. They take donations of all types of Bibles and the inmates receive them for free. Even during the pandemic she has been able to accept Bible donations and get them to inmates at the jail.
The LITE program came about from Cotton’s realization “you have to love people where they are at, even if you don’t like what they are doing.”

The program will not only assist inmates in gaining tools and skills to prepare and support them for life after jail. LITE will offer support groups for those who have been formerly incarcerated to help keep them on the right path. There will also be support groups available for family members and loved ones to help support them as well as assist them in effectively offering support for their incarcerated loved one.

Upon release, LITE will also provide inmates with gear bags full of essentials such as toiletries.
Providing the pandemic numbers don’t take an upturn, Cotton is planning for classes to be able to begin May 1. She stated the inmates are excited about the upcoming opening of the library as well as the beginning of classes.

Scott Clay, right, a Warsaw resident, a member of Warsaw Optimist Club and works for NAPA, donated books to LITE for the Kosciusko County Jail library. Tammy Cotton accepted the books to include in the jail library. Clay has committed to making more donations of books in the future as well.