Lorain Correctional Institution, Grace Church host Thanksgiving meal for inmates, families

GRAFTON — It's been years since Stephan Hawkins ate a Thanksgiving meal with his older brother. But Tuesday evening, he had the chance to do just that, seated in the gym at Lorain Correctional Institution. "I always enjoy the opportunity to spend time with my brother, to see the good work that everybody does here putting these things together," Hawkins said. "It's good to be around a bunch of compassionate people who share and make sure that he's got great quality of life." Hawkins' brother is an inmate at LORCI and the pair haven't been able to see each other in person since before COVID-19. "Being able to spend some time with my brother means the world," Hawkins' brother said. "When he gets to come or my daughter or anybody, they get to see the change I've been through by the reaction from everybody around me. Just for him to be able to see that means a lot to me, because he knew the old me." Tuesday's dinner — turkey, mashed potatoes, freshly baked rolls, pumpkin bars and other treats — were all made by volunteers from Grace Church. The church started a campus at LORCI in February, and this is the first holiday meal it's held for the inmates, one family member and prison staff. Pastor Scott Lessing said parishioners cooked 20 turkeys alongside endless amounts of side dishes at its Middleburg Heights church to feed about 250 people Tuesday evening. "One of the most important things that we can do for men on the inside, and their families, is to make them feel valued like a human being that should be valued," Lessing said. "Even though they're paying a penalty and they're behind bars, they still deserve to be valued as a person." Volunteers dished out meals to inmates accompanied by their wives, girlfriends, mothers, brothers, fathers, sisters and nieces — an event many of those in attendance had looked forward to since it was announced. One inmate and his niece, Allie Weidner, sat at a table, catching up after more than two years of restricted in-person visitation due to the pandemic. COVID-19 was hard for a lot of incarcerated individuals, he said, so getting to spend a holiday with family is huge. Spending Tuesday evening with her uncle was a sliver of normalcy, Weidner said. It was also a chance for her to meet her uncle's found family — see the men she's heard about since he's been incarcerated. "I would've loved to share with a lot more of my family, but it is what it is," he said. "But this is family, it's not just immediate family bloodline, we had to come together through COVID-19 — I've got brothers in here and it's not just white, Black, it's culture and it's just people. We're all people." Once released, he hopes to come back to the men still at LORCI and bring an agriculture program to them there. Warden Jennifer Gillece Black hopes Tuesday's event is just the first as COVID-19 restrictions lessen and families can return to visit their loved ones inside. The evening's meal, followed by a church service and activities, was a chance for those families to build memories and strengthen inmates' support systems inside LORCI's walls and out. "With the holiday season and Thanksgiving, a lot of these men and families — like the one mother just told me she hasn't had Thanksgiving with her son in 11 years," Gillece Black said. "So just being able to have the opportunity to come in and enjoy a meal together. … These are always kind of depressing times for both the men and for their families and the community. It's just nice to finally start coming out." Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.