Our Mission
Keeping Families Connected is a faith based organization whose mission is to ensure that families maintain contact by providing transportation for prison visitation and through promoting a holistic approach to family wellness.

Our History
Upon dealing with the pain and hurt while learning that their son was facing 40 years of prison, Cecelia Whitfield founded Use What You've Got Prison Ministry in 1988. This ministry became a 501(c)(3) public charity in August of 1990.

In the past 20 years, Cecelia has traveled countless miles serving this ministry. In order to minister to the children and mothers, she began a toy giveaway in 1993 and a women's retreat for the mothers in 1994. To further serve her calling, Mrs. Whitfield eventually resigned from her full-time job to drive visitors to the prisons.

Upon its inception, the initial name of the ministry was “Church On The Rock” and “Use  What You've Got Ministry.” Use What You've Got Ministry separated from the church and received it's own 501(c)(3) statutes in February of 2003. Mr. Larry R. Bruce, CLU, a State Farm Insurance Agent, became the first Board of Directors chairman. Currently, Katherine Blane of Senator Richard Lugar's Indianapolis Office serves as Board of Directors Chairperson.

In 2005 Use What You've Got Ministry changed its name to Use What You've Got Prison Ministry (UWYGPM), and Cecelia continues her important ministry to this day.

Recent News

January, 2024

Meeting with Rachael C. Ehlich Senior Operations Director Office of Governor Eric J. Holcomb, State of Indiana.

September, 2023 2023 Awards and Recognition Dinner

December, 2022 - Click here to see a video of the December Christmas party.

2019 Annual Award Dinner

December, 2019 - Click here to view photos of the December Christmas party.

2018 - See the photos from 2018's fundraiser : Click Here

March, 2011 - Use What You’ve Got Prison Ministry was honored to be a part of the filming of successful re-entry stories by the Indianapolis Mayor's Office of Re-Entry.

Articles & Resources

Effects of Prison Visitation on Offender Recidivism (source: NCJRS)

Abstract: Major findings from this study on the effects of prison visitation on recidivism rates include the following: inmates who were visited in prison had a 13 percent lower risk of recidivism than inmates who were not visited in prison; each visit in prison reduced the risk of reconviction by 0.1 percent, while one visit per month was associated with a 0.9 percent decrease in the risk of reconviction; prisoners who were visited closer to their release date had a 3.6-percent decrease in their risk of reconviction; and the more individual visitors a prisoner had, the greater the reduction in the risk of reconviction, with each additional visitor reducing the risk of reconviction by 3 percent. This study from the Minnesota Department of Corrections examined the effects of prison visitation on recidivism rates for recently released offenders. Data for the study were obtained by examining recidivism rates for 16,420 offenders released from Minnesota prisons between 2003 and 2007. Various measures of visitation (any visit, total number of visits, visits per month, timing of visits, and number of individual visitors) were quantified to determine whether they had any type of effect on the risk of reconviction for recently released offenders. Regression analyses found that visitation in general significantly decreased the risk of recidivism, with visits from siblings, in-laws, fathers, and clergy having a positive effect on risk and visits from ex-spouses having a significantly negative effect on risk of reconviction. Implications for corrections policy and practice are discussed.