Volunteers of America Hiking Pastor Visits Baltimore Re-Entry Center

Florida-based Rev. Tom Hafer visited Volunteers of America Chesapeake’s Baltimore residential re-entry center on Monday to talk with residents about his plan to hike the Appalachian Trail later this year and the life experiences that helped to shape him.

The center, located in East Baltimore, houses up to 148 individuals preparing to re-enter the community after serving time in federal prison. Re-entry centers work with residents to assist in finding permanent employment, housing and community services in an effort to help each resident successfully return to the community. The centers are proven to help reduce the rate of recidivism by providing a safe, structured, supervised environment, as well as things such as employment counseling, job placement and financial management assistance.
Hafer, who was awarded the 2015 National Volunteers of America Leadership in Ministry award, works at a Volunteers of America-run senior living facility in Florida, where is an ordained minister and motivational speaker who encourages physical and spiritual discipline as a way to achieve a healthier lifestyle.
A trained physical therapist and author of several self-help books, Hafer was inspired to hike the country’s most famous trail after writing about the 2,200-mile trek from Georgia to Maine.
He told residents at the re-entry center about the importance of living outside oneself and belonging to a community.
“Our backgrounds are as vast as this building is wide,” Hafer said. “But we are part of the bigger story.”
He urged residents to put their own struggles into perspective and look out for others. He invited them to follow him on his journey along the Appalachian Trail, which will begin in April and conclude in October.
Throughout the hike, Hafer will provide video updates on Facebook, providing those who cannot take on the trail themselves a window into the experience.
Updates can be found at facebook.com/tomhaferspeaker/ and tomhafer.com/.
About Volunteers of America Chesapeake: Volunteers of America Chesapeake, Inc. is a faith-based, nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire self-reliance, dignity and hope through health and human services in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Founded in 1896 in Baltimore, MD, Volunteers of America Chesapeake was one of the first branches of Volunteers of America – one of the nation’s largest and most comprehensive human services organizations. Through a dedicated and committed team of management, staff and volunteers and guided by our Core Values: Caring, Respect, Faith, Quality and Trust Volunteers of America Chesapeake helps more than 10,000 people each year at our 31 programs serving: the homeless, mentally ill, individuals with intellectual disabilities, the aging, those in need of affordable housing, those recovering from substance abuse and community corrections. For more information about Volunteers of America Chesapeake, visit: http://www.voachesapeake.org.