The  mission of Abe Brown Ministries is to compassionately demonstrate the Love of Jesus Christ by helping offenders, ex-offenders and their families to achieve productive and fulfilling lives.  We provide outreach to evangelize, counsel, and restore families that are broken as a result of incarceration.  We strive to provide comprehensive services that allow patrons of our Ministry to make their freedom in Christ a reality.  Helping ex-offenders establish an intimate relationship with Christ, while learning life skills and the value of gainful employment gives them hope for sustaining their family, occupational and financial futures.  The end result is productive citizens in our communities, improving the quality of life for all.

One in every one hundred forty-two people in the United States is incarcerated in our nation's prisons and jails.  There are some 2.3 million Americans in State and Federal Prisons.  Florida has the third largest penal system in America, and its 135 plus State Prisons are home to 102,000 men and women.  Approximately, 3,500 of these men and women are released annually to Hillsborough County.  Many of them fall through the cracks of society and return to a life of crime. 

Learn more about Florida Department of Corrections' Inmate Population at:

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/annual/0809/stats/csa_general.html

Our efforts are focused on those felons who were convicted out of Hillsborough County and now reside at a correctional institution within 120 miles of Tampa.  Trends show that inmates often return to the same community where they received their conviction.  Focusing our crusades on these institutions allows us to assist these inmates in establishing, and sometimes re-establishing, their relationship with Christ.  This approach also authenticates the Ministry's relationships with inmates, which is foundational when these people are released.

Abe Brown Ministries is aware of the struggle that ex-offenders face.  We continue to strengthen our position as a master referral agency by identifying churches, organizations and agencies in the community which can provide ex-offenders with:  basic needs (food, shelter, clothing), housing, education, employment, healthcare (especially treatment for substance abuse, mental-health, and HIV/AIDS problems), legal  assistance, and discipleship.

The Vision                                             

We intend to establish excellence in prison ministry beyond an offender's release from prison.  As offenders transition back to the community, we are seeking to establish a community of compassion that will provide both a residential safe-haven and transitional training.  In conjunction with preparing these individuals for productive living, we will build relationships with employers in the community who will gainfully employ residents of our Transitional Living Program.  At the core of our model is Discipleship.  Discipleship comes from both mentors and peers alike.  This critical component fosters continued spiritual growth, accountability, and service to others.

Ministry Partnerships

• Metropolitan Ministries, Feeding America,  Cahill Ministry Food Bank, Publix Super Markets Charities, and First Baptist Church of College Hill in provision of food to ex-offenders and the community

• Somebody Cares Tampa Bay in community ministry

• Metropolitan Ministries in clothing/ household furnishing provisions

• Lighthouse Ministries International through regeneration ministry

• New Hearts Outreach to minister to the sexually broken

• Leave A Legacy Endowment through the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay

• CDBG Grant through City of Tampa to renovate
  ABM property

• Hillsborough Ex-Offender Reentry Network (HERN), Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and the Public Safety Coordinating Council in reentry strategic planning and community collaboration to improve Public Safety.

In 1976, Coach Abe Brown, after learning that one of his former football players had been charged with murder, embarked upon a mission to see men in prison transformed through the power of Jesus Christ.  More than three decades later, countless lives continue to be changed. 

Abe passed away on September 11, 2010, leaving an awesome Legacy.

We invite you to Live the Brown Legacy TM with us.

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