On Volunteering in a Men’s Prison: Sylvia Hayes 

Sylvia Hayes didn't set out to become a voice for prison ministry. She came to it the way most meaningful callings arrive: through a series of doors she didn't know were connected. 

Her first step inside a correctional facility came through a different program serving inmates. But while serving there, she kept noticing another group meeting in the prison library. That group was JUMPSTART SC, and what drew her in was the way they wove discipleship, accountability, and practical support together, both inside the walls and after release. 

The Question Underneath the Crime 

Ask Sylvia what most incarcerated men are really wrestling with, and she won't start with the legal system. She'll start with identity. 

So many of these men, she says, have never truly felt community. The crimes that brought them to prison often trace back to a search for acceptance, purpose, or belonging in the only places that seemed to offer it. Sylvia is quick to add that this isn't a story about "them" and "us." Christians, she says, shouldn't be arrogant enough to think they couldn't have ended up in the same situation under different circumstances. Humility is the price of admission to this kind of ministry. 

Small Groups, Honest Stories 

What makes JUMPSTART SC work, in Sylvia's experience, is the small group. It's the place where masks come off, on both sides of the circle, and she's quick to say that most days she gets so much more out of those groups than she feels she puts in. 

She knows this because she's done it herself. Sylvia has shared with the men her own story of a first marriage that began before she came to faith. After becoming a Christian, she realized she and her then-boyfriend were living contrary to her new convictions, and she gave him an ultimatum: marry or part ways. They married. But as her faith deepened, he grew increasingly abrasive and aggressive, and the relationship eventually ended in divorce. 

She was sure she'd never marry again. Then, on a mission trip to Africa, encouraged by some believers to be open to the idea, she opened a dating app and connected with a man named Chris. Early on, Chris told her there was something she needed to know: he had recently been released from prison. 

Sylvia already had a heart for prison ministry. Chris had spent much of his life caring for people with disabilities. She also lives with long-term health challenges, and she believes God used all of it, the brokenness and the calling, to soften two hearts toward each other and bring them together. 

Learning the Barriers Firsthand 

Marrying Chris gave Sylvia an education no training course could provide. When Chris first got out, a friend hired him at a construction site, which Sylvia calls a huge blessing. But when the project wrapped up and the company dissolved, the doors slammed shut. Job after job fell through because of his record. 

Housing was just as hard. Despite Sylvia's spotless rental history, landlords turned them away because of a felony conviction from twenty years earlier. 

“People don't return to prison because they want to,” she says. Society pushes them right back toward it, even when they're trying to start over. That experience is exactly why she believes organizations like JUMPSTART SC matter so much. A clean slate isn't really clean without people advocating for you. 

On Being a Woman in a Men's Prison, and Other Misconceptions 

Sylvia gets the question often: Isn't it uncomfortable? Isn't it unsafe? Aren't you worried about crude comments? 

Her answer is consistent. She has never felt uneasy. The men in the JUMPSTART program are professing Christians, and even beyond that group, she believes God protects her. She's confident the men she serves would stand up for her if she ever needed it. Serving alongside Chris, who now does ministry with her, has only deepened her conviction that this work is where she's supposed to be. 

She also pushes back on the broader picture most people carry about prison, the one shaped almost entirely by movies, TV, and news coverage. That picture, she says, keeps countless would-be volunteers from ever stepping inside. It paints prison as nothing but violence, hostility, and lost causes, and it simply isn't the truth of what she's experienced. Inside the JUMPSTART SC program, she's found men hungry for community, eager to grow, and protective of the people who show up for them. If more people could see what she sees, she believes the volunteer numbers would look very different. 

A Vision Beyond Survival 

What Sylvia loves most about JUMPSTART is its refusal to settle for getting people by. The goal isn't a McDonald's paycheck or a fragile peace. It's sustainable, lifelong income with room for growth at the companies these men join. It's fathers stepping back into their children's lives, husbands providing for their wives, mothers reuniting with their kids. It's restoration with a future attached. 

That vision became tangible for her when she visited Restoration Village for the first time this spring. She was blown away by the quality of the houses and the supportive environment. She wished she had gone sooner so she could have hyped it up more to the guys still on the inside, the ones who needed a vivid picture of what was waiting for them. 

The Roots of Her Compassion 

Sylvia's heart for people who feel rejected isn't theoretical. After she was born, her parents left her at the hospital. Her grandparents found out and made them go back to get her. Not long after, her parents left her with an aunt, where she stayed for nearly two years. It wasn't until her younger sister was born that her parents came back for her. 

Growing up, she heard her father say the only reason he stayed in a miserable marriage was because of her. She knows what it is to feel unwanted, and she knows how that ache can drive a person to try to fill the hole in unhealthy places. 

But faith taught her something different. Jesus has always wanted her, more than anyone. He has always been her true Father. 

It's that knowledge she brings into every prison visit. 

The Fruit of Faithfulness 

Sylvia talks about Larry, an inside leader who has served faithfully for years and watched men transform around him. Quiet, defensive men slowly become honest, open, even loud and happy. She describes seeing joy revived in people as they discover who God is and that He loves them. JUMPSTART's accountability structure means the men aren't doing it alone, they're watching out for each other. 

She talks about Joseph, who at the time was preparing to transition to Restoration Village and is now settled in here. He came into the program more rough around the edges, she says, but God has completely and wholly changed his life. 

Looking Forward 

Today, Sylvia and Chris live on a farm they were eventually able to purchase. Chris works the land now, a long way from his DoorDash routes during COVID, which was the only work he could find at the time. Together they hope to see JUMPSTART's housing efforts expand across all of South Carolina so that more men and women reentering society can find housing, employment, and the kind of long-term stability that makes restoration real. 

For Sylvia, it all comes back to belonging. Every person needs to know they're wanted. Every person deserves the chance to rebuild. And every story, even the hardest ones, can be made new through the hands of a loving God. 

Interested in Learning More?

Sylvia's story is a reminder that the picture most of us carry about prison is rarely the whole truth. The men and women inside the JUMPSTART SC program aren't lost causes; they're people hungry for community, eager to grow, and ready to rebuild. And the volunteers who show up for them often find, like Sylvia, that they receive far more than they give.

Maybe you've felt a quiet pull toward this kind of work but weren't sure where to begin.

If you'd like to find out more about serving on the inside, see which prison is closest to you here: https://jumpstartsc.org/prisons-we-serve/

If you have more questions, you'll find answers here: https://jumpstartsc.org/faqs/

And if you already know you're ready to take the next step, sign up to serve here: https://jumpstartsc.org/volunteer/

Every person needs to know they're wanted by a loving Father. You could be the one who helps someone see it.