Restorative justice sees crime as more than breaking the law – crime causes damage to people, relationships, and the community.
Restorative justice is a way of responding to harm that focuses on repairing relationships and healing all those impacted by crime.

Join us Oct. 19 for "Radical Forgiveness" the 3rd Annual Restorative Justice Conference, to examine the process and practices of restorative justice and find ways to encourage the creation and implementation of restorative justice practices within our local criminal justice system.

Kate Grosmaire, whose daughter Ann was murdered in March 2010, is the conference keynote speaker. After her daughter was killed, Kate became an educator about restorative justice. She and her husband co-founded the Ann Grosmaire "Be The Change" Fund, a charitable fund to promote forgiveness and restorative justice practices. In 2016, she authored the book "Forgiving my Daughter's Killer: A True Story of Loss, Faith, and Unexpected Grace."

Hosted this year by the Prison and Jail Ministry - Diocese of Grand Rapids, this conference is unique in that it was initiated and has been organized over the past three years by a group of incarcerated men at Richard A. Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia who are also students of the Calvin Prison Initiative, a partnership between Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary. Their desire in creating this event was to reach out and partner with community organizations to create a space for the public to learn more about restorative justice practices.