At left, resident scholar Lucas D. shares a story with senior regional coordinator Christa Pipitone during the onboarding process. Below (in foreground), Fr. Zach Presutti, SJ, talks to community members at an open house event in the fall of 2024.
Thrive For Life Prison Project expands from the East Province to help formerly incarcerated men return to school and redirect the rest of their lives
By Patricia McGeever
Patricia McGeever, is an award-winning freelance writer and television news producer based in Cincinnati. A proud Xavier Musketeer, she is a retired Irish dancer and instructor.
A former convent and monastery in Milwaukee may soon be home to up to 12 former prison inmates who plan to return to school and change the trajectory of their lives. The men accepted into the facility, Joseph House, will live there while they go to school. It’s all part of Thrive for Life, which gives formerly incarcerated men a second chance.
“This is a community,” says Christa Pipitone, senior regional coordinator for Thrive for Life in Milwaukee. “If you’re looking for an apartment, this isn’t the place. We have Sunday dinner, we have Circles, which are like support groups, and we have programming here to heal the whole person.”
The goal of Thrive for Life is to unlock the potential in these men and help them become productive members of society. Father Zach Presutti, SJ, of the USA East Province, founded the ministry. When his brother was an assistant coach of the Marquette University men’s basketball team, Fr. Presutti made trips to Milwaukee to cheer on the Golden Eagles.
It was during those visits that he got to know the Jesuit community in the Midwest. Eventually, he recognized the opportunity to expand Thrive for Life to a new city and state.
“The core of the care we offer our folks as they re-enter from incarceration is a supportive living community so they can continue their education,” Fr. Presutti says. “Most important to me in this whole thing is, we’re continuing the mission of the Church.” Once a convent, built by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1909, the building now known as Joseph House, also served as a Capuchin Franciscan monastery. When Fr. Presutti saw the building, he imagined it meeting all the needs of the ministry and purchased it with the help of generous donations.
After working through zoning issues, and having many conversations with neighbors, Fr. Presutti and his staff were set to prepare the living space. Volunteers painted, and everything in the building, from bedroom furniture to kitchen utensils, was donated through a wish list registry.
“WHEN THEY COME HERE, THEY SEE THAT THIS IS A PLACE THEY’RE GOING TO BE STAYING, THEY’RE GOING BE LOVED AND CARED FOR.”
Joseph House is situated on a tree-lined street in Milwaukee’s Halyard Park neighborhood. Below, the sun room is a place where resident scholars can study or relax.
“I really thought it was important that the house felt like a home for the guys,” Pipitone says. “When they come here, they see that this is a place they’re going to be staying, they’re going be loved and cared for.”
Residents go through a series of interviews before being accepted at Joseph House, and as long as they live there, they must be enrolled in classes at one of the ministry’s partner schools: Marquette University,
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College or Milwaukee School of Engineering.
By living in the house, the men benefit from a built-in support system that goes beyond schoolwork. The program also reinforces life skills such as how to make a bed, iron a shirt, cook a meal and catch up with technology.
“If you’re highly committed and motivated and want to get out and stay out, we’re the place for you,” Fr. Presutti says.
Situated on a tree-lined street in Milwaukee’s Halyard Park neighborhood, the house has both single and double rooms. The basement has a TV room, a family room and a place where residents can meet with their children. There’s also a workout room, community room, study spaces and a beautiful chapel.
As the men navigate their way through re-entry into society, Mychal Pagan will be there to help them. He knows how the program works because he’s been through it. He served 13 years in a New York state prison before he was accepted into Thrive for Life’s Ignacio House in Manhattan.
“It really set me on pace to be who I am today,” Pagan says.
While living in Ignacio House, Pagan attended New York University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. He was working at a video production house when Fr. Presutti hired him as Thrive for Life’s associate director of communications. Now Pagan is in Wisconsin, where he lives at Joseph House and serves as both a mentor and the ministry’s supportive service coordinator.
“We want to make sure they know they can lean on this space, they can lean on us, to get through whatever is in front of them,” he says. “I think the best thing I can do for them is be available and help them navigate the day-to-day life.”
