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Dream Teams · reentry math for the American church

Two people per church.

Across the country, that is about what it takes to put twelve Waypointers around a thousand men and women walking out of prison in every state. The church already has the people. Here is the math.

453,242people released from state and federal prison in one year (2023)
~373,000congregations already in American towns and cities
12Waypointers on a Dream Team, around one person coming home

Indiana

People released from state prison in one yearBJS, 2023
Christian congregations in the state2020 U.S. Religion Census
Per church, to give the first 1,000 people a Dream Team
Per church, to give everyone released that year a Dream Team

What if every church sent…

1 2

Indiana's churches, by size

Every congregation isn't the same size — here's what your state's 8,899 churches actually look like, split into three tiers, and what one Dream Team from each tier would mean.

How a Dream Team works

12

Twelve Waypointers

A Dream Team is twelve trained volunteers around one person who is coming home. Calls, visits, letters, and $12 a week before release. Someone screened at the gate on the day.

72

One person

The first 72 hours decide a lot: a ride, an ID, a bed, a meal, a phone that works. Twelve Waypointers split that load so nobody carries it alone.

33

Every state

Twelve thousand Waypointers in a state is a thousand people met at the gate. Spread across that state's churches, it is three Waypointers or fewer from each church in 33 states.

Every state is within reach

People each church would send so everyone released from that state's prisons in a year has a Dream Team. Tap a state to load it in "Your State."

Put your church on the list

Tell us your church's name, city and state, and who we should talk to. We will send you what a Dream Team does and how to start one with two people.

admin@brokenchampions.com

Or see the full Become a Waypointer page →

Where these numbers come from

  • Releases and prisoners by state: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2023, Tables 2 and 9. Counts sentenced prisoners (over one year) released from state prison; excludes transfers. States' own counts often run higher — Indiana's Department of Correction counted about 11,900 adult releases in 2025.
  • Congregations by state: 2020 U.S. Religion Census, Christian congregations. The census undercounts some independent and historically Black churches, so the real per-church numbers are lower.
  • National congregation estimate (~373,000): Hartford Institute for Religion Research. Median weekly worship attendance is 70 (Faith Communities Today, 2025).
  • Church size tiers (Churches tab): the 2020 Faith Communities Today study found about 65% of US congregations draw 100 or fewer people weekly, and about 10% draw over 250 — that top 10% hosts roughly 60% of all churchgoers (Lifeway Research summary of the Hartford Institute study). We apply that national split as a flat estimate to each state's congregation count, since no state-by-state size breakdown is published — so these are modeled estimates, not a count of actual named churches.
  • Math: people per church = (people released × 12) ÷ congregations. A Dream Team is 12 Waypointers for one person coming home.