When Chenoa agreed to accompany her church, Passion Community Church, to a volunteer service inside a prison, she had no intention of going back.
“I was with my husband at the time. He wanted to launch a campus of our church inside Nottoway Correctional Center. I told him I would go the night we launched the campus, but I am never going back. I was worried about how dangerous it could be, like walking into the belly of the beast,” she said.
As a victim of crime, Chenoa had no desire to get to know any of the men who were incarcerated that would be attending church service.
Immediately, her mind changed.
“When those 120 guys walked in for church that night, I saw children of God,” said Chenoa.
She visited the prison for three years with her church, becoming friends with many of the people she met. She learned their stories and they learned hers. Her time volunteering at Nottoway, changed Chenoa’s perspective of incarcerated people: she saw them for the people they were, not their convictions.
“In an instant, we can all make a bad decision. … [T]he God that I serve is about second chances and redemption .... They weren’t their worst mistake,” said Chenoa.
Chenoa’s changed perspective also helped her find forgiveness for the people who harmed her.
“In that journey of going inside, in meeting these men, I realized what redemption and forgiveness look like, and because of them, I was able to get past the trauma I experienced,” said Chenoa.
While Chenoa was volunteering in the prison, she was also dealing with personal matters. When she shared these details with the people attending church in Nottoway, they offered love and support.
After three years volunteering, Chenoa decided to extend her volunteer work to advocating for prison reform.
“After I’d been there for about three years, I decided that they needed a voice … out here. They needed someone to fight for them..., I needed to fight for them.”
As part of her advocacy, Chenoa sits in on parole hearings; works with the Helping Addicts Recover Progressively (HARP) Program at Chesterfield County Jail, bringing returned citizens in as mentors to currently incarcerated Virginians; and lobbies at the General Assembly, sharing the stories of the incarcerated Virginians she’s met and the good work they’ve done to improve themselves and prove that they deserve a second chance.
