After Pastor William Bumphus was released from 23 years of imprisonment in 1978, he founded Jesus Inside Prison Ministry (JIPM) to provide religious services to incarcerated individuals throughout Indiana. As part of his work with JIPM, he opened a halfway house for paroled individuals in 1985 called Jesus House. The religious-based re-entry program filled a need in Indianapolis by providing shelter and services focused on helping formerly incarcerated individuals successfully complete the terms of their probation/parole.
![A man stands at a podium. A poster in the background reads "You are not an ex-offender, you are a returning citizen!"](https://indyencyclopedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/JesusHouse.jpg)
Located in a single-family home at 1832 North Carrollton Avenue, Jesus House provided its residents with a stable address, counseling, religious services, and employment resources. To remain at the shelter, residents had to follow a strict set of rules which included attending church services and daily Bible study, refraining from drug and alcohol use, and actively seeking employment. To date, Jesus House has partnered with various organizations around Indianapolis such as Second Helpings, which provided both meals and culinary training to the shelter’s residents.
The shelter closed briefly in 1988 but reopened in a different location. It moved once more before settling at 3402 Schofield Avenue in 2007. As of 2016, about 85 percent of the residents at Jesus House have successfully reintegrated into society, fulfilling the shelter’s goal of reducing recidivism rates (the number of people that return to prison within three years) in Indianapolis.
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