Q.
Is Abe Brown Ministries a nonprofit organization?
Frequently Asked Questions
A.
Yes!
Abe Brown Ministries is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
We are a community and faith-based nonprofit organization incorporated in the state of Florida in 1977 with the mission to break cycles of incarceration by helping renew the minds of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated citizens, motivating them to change their behaviors and achieve purposeful lives. We do this as a compassionate demonstration of the Love of Jesus Christ.
Abe Brown Ministries, Inc. is not a church, nor do we operate under the ‘umbrella’ of a church.
Q.
What prisons do you visit?
A.
Abe Brown Ministries travels to prisons throughout the state of Florida.
In 1977, when Abe Brown Ministries was founded, there were only 24 correctional institutions (17,172 people incarcerated) in the state. Today, there are 135 correctional institutions (100,000+ incarcerated) in the state of Florida. On Crusades, our Ministry targets institutions located within a 120-mile radius of Tampa Bay, focusing on those with large numbers of incarcerated persons who were adjudicated out of Hillsborough County.
Crusade schedules are available upon request and you must be approved by Florida Department of Corrections as a volunteer to travel with the Ministry on our Crusades.
Q.
I’d like to help. How can I give?
A.
Time: Perhaps you’d like to volunteer or become a life coach to help guide and direct those served by Abe Brown Ministries along their path to a meaningful life. Please complete our Volunteer form to sign up and learn of current volunteer opportunities.
Talent: Perhaps you, your business, or people within your sphere of influence would like to share your gift on a Crusade into prison or speak to one of Abe Brown Ministry’s Reentry+ classes about your path to success. Or maybe you know of a business owner in need of vetted and qualified drug-free candidates as employees. Please visit our Become a Business Partner page.
Treasure: Perhaps you have been blessed financially and would like to give a financial gift to support the ongoing work of Abe Brown Ministries. Please visit our Donate page.
Q.
I have a loved-one returning home from prison, can you help them?
A.
Abe Brown Ministries has a respected record of directly delivering services to returning citizens and their families and post-release services to these individuals include crisis counseling, a food pantry and supportive service referrals.
Our Ministry has replicated the nationally-recognized Reentry+ program designed to provide holistic workforce training and job placement services through case management, life and job skills training, life-coaching (mentoring), job placement assistance and data tracking.
Abe Brown Ministries also operates the Transitional Living Program (TLP), a 12-month program that provides previously incarcerated returning citizens with managed housing, case management, direct linkages to supportive services and employment placement assistance.
Q.
Who is Abe Brown?
A.
Abe Brown worked in the Hillsborough County School System for 38 years with the first 23 of those years being spent as both teacher and coach. He taught and coached at several schools, winning the State Football Championship in 1969 as Tampa Bay’s Blake High School Head Football Coach.
After learning that one of his former football players was in jail for an alleged murder, Brown went to visit this young man. Convinced that he had taught young men how to play football, but could have done more to teach them about how to live life, Abe Brown dedicated himself to intervention, inside and outside prison walls. He became the first black minister to lead services and evangelize in Florida’s prisons.
Today Abe Brown Ministries, Inc. (formerly Prison Crusade) is a viable prison ministry, chartered by the state of Florida, with access to all Florida prisons. The Ministry enables people, “the least of these,” in the community to achieve productive and spiritually fulfilling lives.