BROKEN What a Dream Team is
Why twelve
Spreading the commitment across twelve people keeps the team standing when one member needs to step back. Nobody carries an unsustainable load, and the person inside always hears from someone.
Twelve Waypointers around one person
A Dream Team is twelve trained volunteers, called Waypointers, who commit to walk with one person while they are incarcerated. We call the people we serve Broken Champions: broken by what happened, champions in who they are becoming.
Scripture
Galatians 6:2
“Carry each other’s burdens.”
Galatians 6:2
Call · Visit · Letter · $12 a week
Action 1
Call
A short weekly call: are you safe, what are you working on, who are you becoming.
Action 2
Visit
In person, as an approved visitor, following facility rules.
Action 3
Letter
Encouragement a person can reread on the hard nights.
Action 4
$12
$12 a week
Funds commissary now and a reentry fund for release.
Roles, rhythm, covenant
Prime Guardian
Keeps the rhythm
Schedules calls, visits, and letters so all twelve rotate fairly, and protects boundaries.
Deputy Guardian
Stabilizer & backup
Checks follow-through and fills gaps when someone can't make their slot.
Associate Guardian
Logistics & logging
Addresses, letter templates, resources, and the action log.
Structure
The rhythm (while the person is inside)
- Weekly: a 10–15 minute team touchpoint.
- Monthly: a leadership alignment.
- Every 12 weeks: each Waypointer completes one call, one visit, and one letter, and the $12 a week continues.
The 12-week rhythm applies while the person is incarcerated. After release, support continues through Broken Champions staff and follow-up (see Release Day & First 72).
Covenant
The Waypointer Covenant
I will not disappear. I will not abandon. I will not burn out alone. I will carry this with others. I will follow the rhythm. I will honor transparency. I will protect the mission.
The numbers, in full
One Dream Team is 12 Waypointers × $12 a week × 5 years. Every dollar moves through Broken Champions and the facility's official channels, never hand to hand.
Table
$37,440
Where the $12 goes
| Use | Per Waypointer | Team of 12 / week | Per year | 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commissary & phone for the person inside (about $156/month) | $3 | $36 | $1,872 | $9,360 |
| Reentry fund held for the person's release | $3 | $36 | $1,872 | $9,360 |
| Program infrastructure & education: training, case prep, release-day operations | $6 | $72 | $3,744 | $18,720 |
| Total | $12 | $144 | $7,488 | $37,440 |
See it by state
How many Waypointers does your state actually need?
Pick any state and see how few people each church would need to send to field a Dream Team for everyone released there in a year.
Who's inside, by name
See every facility a Dream Team could reach
Every state prison and federal facility in the country, by name, operator, and how many people are held there right now.
Walk out with a credit history, not a blank slate
Most people leave prison with no credit history. That shuts them out of apartments, cars, and some jobs. The reentry fund is designed to change that before release day.
Fresh Start: credit & assets
How purchases work
Purchases are made in the person's own name, through a partner credit union with co-signer support, from partner furniture and vehicle providers the person chooses, at fair market value.
Co-signers are arranged through the program and the credit union, never an individual Waypointer personally. Credit-union partnerships and IDOC account rules are being finalized; see Assistance to Individuals.
Years 1–2
$3,744
Build the fund
The reentry fund grows by $36 a week: $3,744.
Start of year 3
Down payments
The $3,744 becomes down payments on furniture and a car, financed in the person's name through a partner credit union.
Years 3–5
$5,616
On-time history
Loan payments are covered through the program, building three years of on-time payment history, while the fund keeps growing: $5,616.
Release day
A real start
$5,616 in cash, furniture and a vehicle, and three years of credit history.
What Waypointers do and don't do
Do
- Keep your scheduled slot. Consistency builds trust.
- Speak to who the person is becoming.
- Tell your Prime Guardian about every visit. No secret meetings.
- Follow every facility rule for mail, phone, and visits.
- Escalate right away: self-harm, violence, abuse, relapse, or crisis.
Don't
- Give money personally, lend a car, co-sign, or offer housing.
- Pursue any romantic relationship.
- Post about the person or use them as a testimony.
- Put coded or prohibited content in letters.
- Play rescuer. We walk beside, we don't carry.
Note
From the outside, by the public rules.
Waypointers are not facility volunteers. They serve from the outside, the same way family and friends do: on the approved visitor list, through inspected mail, on the facility phone system, and through IDOC's official deposit service for commissary. Every contact follows Indiana Department of Correction rules.