Inmates Becoming Peer Counselors | Raleigh News

Raleigh News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 26, 2026 · 2m

In North Carolina, a groundbreaking program is transforming incarcerated men into peer counselors—field ministers—who earned bachelor’s degrees in pastoral ministry behind bars and now serve in sixteen prisons. These graduates, along with 87 currently enrolled students, use their lived experience and training to support fellow inmates through grief, addiction, mental health crises, and isolation. Trusted to move freely within prison blocks, they offer comfort, guidance, and listening ears—giving long-term inmates a powerful sense of purpose. With over 60 active field ministers and fierce…