Volunteer

OPPORTUNITIES | SPECIAL VOLUNTEERS | APPROVED VOLUNTEERS | TRAINING

Special Volunteers

red race car If you've not yet decided whether God is calling you to be involved with prison ministry, we recommend that you "take a test drive." That is, just come visit one or more of the God of Hope classes or group meetings. No commitment. God may or may not be calling you to be involved in this ministry. But you won't know until you give it a try.

To enter as a "special" volunteer you do not have to attend training beforehand, but you do have to be escorted by an "approved" volunteer, and each visit must be authorized by the warden of the facility you'll be visiting. Each visit by a "special" volunteer is for one specific date and time. Please allow two weeks for processing of the "special" volunteer application.

You can visit the prison up to four times as a special volunteer. After that, you need to take the training to become an approved volunteer.

1) The first step in becoming a special volunteer is to read the "Special" Volunteer Orientation Letter.

2) TDCJ requires that you send back a "Special" Volunteer Approval Form confirming that you've read this orientation letter. After you've read the orientation letter, please print this form and fill it out, following these guidelines:

You don't need to fill out the information at the top of the form—we'll do that for you once it's decided exactly when you'll be visiting.
Fill out one row of the table for each person visiting. For a single visitor, you'll fill out only the first row of this form.
Do not put anything in the spaces for "Entry Approved" or "Entry Denied"—these are for the warden to use.
Remember to enter your initials in the last box of the row—this is essential.
You only need to fill out this form once, regardless of how many times you visit.

3) The third step is to sign the doctrinal statement of The God of Hope Ministries.   We teach the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and we require that all our volunteers be unified on these core doctrines. Please read over our doctrinal statement and make sure you agree with it before signing.

4) After completing the Special Volunteer Approval Form and signing the doctrinal statement, either
     a) mail the completed forms to our offices at
         The God of Hope Ministries
         4220 Monterey Oaks Blvd.
           Austin, TX 78749,
     b) fax the completed forms to (512)891-1690. Please write "God of Hope" on the top of the forms so
         they will come to our office, or
     c) scan and email the completed forms to info@thegodofhope.org.

5) Additionally, we need some information that's not on the "Special" Volunteer Approval Form, so please fill in the online form below and submit that to us as well. Once we receive your completed forms and the information below, we'll get back to you with approval confirmation for your visit.

Full name (as it appears on your driver's license)
Your email address
Your preferred telephone number
Your date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
At which prison would you like to volunteer?	Travis (men) Lockhart (women)
Your best date(s) to visit
Your best time(s) to visit
Have you ever been convicted of a felony?	No Yes
If yes, give details (date, location, time served, etc.)
You must be escorted by an approved volunteer. If you need an escort, we'll arrange one for you. If you already have an escort, please enter their name.
Optional comments or questions