Dear PiFO Supporter,
As we come to the end of 2021, Paid in Full Oregon has so much to be thankful for. We have three cohorts (73 men) of adults in custody (AICs) who are engaged in college classwork that will transform them and the entire Oregon prison system. Their classwork will lead to a Corban University four-year degree in Liberal Arts emphasizing Psychology, Social Services and Leadership. This education and training will enable our students to become mentors and counselors to other AICs in the prison system.
Despite COVID 19 creating many challenges to in-person instruction, our first cohort is still on track to graduate in the summer of 2023.
God’s fingerprints are all over this project. We have YOU to thank for your prayers and financial support over the years. In June of 2018 PiFO had $2000 in its checking account. Since then, God has raised over 1.7 million dollars to finance the remodel of the needed classroom space at the Oregon State Correctional Institution (OSCI), to reimburse Corban for all costs associated with implanting the college in OSCI and to pay for all other costs including laptop computers for each of our students.
During one of our fundraiser banquets, a twelve-year-old girl, Amelia, handed me $4. Two weeks later I spoke at a local church about Paid in Full Oregon. Afterwards, an elderly woman approached me with her purse in hand. She pulled out her wallet and gave me all the cash that was in it…$8. She was a widow. And two months later I received an envelope in the mail from a couple who attended the same fundraiser as Amelia. I opened the envelope and pulled out a check for $100,000!
I sensed God was asking, “what do these four people have in common?” The answer…each of them had a generous heart. It didn’t make any difference as to the amount given. God showed what was important…a person’s heart.
Year-End Giving
Paid in Full Oregon has been given a $25,000 matching grant for our year-end campaign, so any gift you give will be matched up $25,000. Our program is changing the culture of the Oregon prison system from the inside out. Men’s hearts are being changed through the transformative education received from Corban professors. They are being changed emotionally, relationally, spiritually, and eternally.
Isn’t this how God changes us? From the inside out…transforming our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. Where is your heart leading you? When you consider a year-end gift, I ask you to follow your heart.
Thanks again for all you have done for our students in the Corban extension at the Oregon State Correctional Institution. Without God and without you, Paid in Full Oregon would not have seen the success it has had so far this year!
In gratitude,
Tom Kohl
Executive Director and Founder
503.799.0342