Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. Christmas Day, a public holiday in many of the world’s nations, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season centered around it. But at Dismas Charities, as in all our programs, it’s much more than that. It’s a critical time of family reunification. Every one of our 30 centers in 13 states make sure that our residents have the opportunity to celebrate this all-important holiday with their family. We know that without family support our residents have little chance of succeeding upon release. We truly try to make sure that their Christmas is, indeed, a “Merry” celebration. The New Year also carries significance to Dismas because every time a resident re-integrates into the community he or she begins a New Year, a new beginning. So from all of us at Dismas Charities, we wish you and all of our residents a very Merry Christmas and an optimistic outlook for their personal New Year.
