“But I always found that keeping busy and having something to do to celebrate was good, because a lot of times a lot of guys would just kind of want to go to their cells and just pull the covers over their heads and sleep through it and get it over with. But, when they did engage, I think they found it much more enjoyable than, you know, being alone and miserable would be.”
He said he did a lot of pastoral counseling and care, helping people deal with grief and loss, which can be particularly acute when a friend or family member passes away during an inmate’s confinement.
“Basically the work involves a lot of one-on-one contact with prisoners. Either they would come to the chapel or I would go out to the yard where they hang out, or I would go to their housing units where their cells are. I could talk to them pretty much anywhere in the prison. And it's just kind of being present to them,” he explained.
Though coronavirus still looms over America's prisons, Williams said it’s that face-to-face contact and the willingness to engage with people, especially around the holidays, that he has seen make the most difference in the lives of inmates.
“I always found that keeping busy and having something to do to celebrate was good, because a lot of times a lot of guys would just kind of want to go to their cells and just pull the covers over their heads and sleep through it and get it over with,” Williams said.
“But, when they did engage, I think they found it much more enjoyable than, you know, being alone and miserable would be.”
Note: A version of this article appeared on Catholic News Agency’s award-winning storytelling podcast, CNA Newsroom. You can listen to that episode here. Subscribe to CNA Newsroom today on your favorite podcast platform, and leave us a rating and a review.
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.
Kate Olivera is executive producer of Catholic News Agency's podcasts: CNA Newsroom and CNA Editor's Desk. She has a BA in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has worked at Catholic News Agency since 2012; and was previously a staff writer at The Catholic Voice in the Archdiocese of Omaha.