When Dustin Feddon began accompanying men on death row and in solitary confinement, he saw a broken system that failed man after man within its walls. Even for those in “release” programs, what he saw—and the men he met—compelled him to ask if there could be new kinds of spaces, not confined spaces or “halfway houses,” but communities that welcomed people back into the human family, re-affirming their dignity? The answer he discovered, was a resounding Yes. That yes began a new community—and the story of Joseph House.
Father Dustin Feddon, a Catholic priest of the diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, is founder and executive director of Joseph House, a home and community for men released from prison. Fr. Dustin and Joseph House have partnered with Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), Legal Defense Fund, and other groups fighting for greater justice and mercy for those impacted by the criminal justice system