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Jake Hooker and the Outsiders kept the crowd on their feet at the recent Joseph's Hammer fundraiser for the women's prison chapel in Burnet. Contributed photos/Pam Stevenson
Jake Hooker and the Outsiders kept the crowd on their feet at the recent Joseph's Hammer fundraiser for the women's prison chapel in Burnet. Contributed photos/Pam Stevenson -
Benefit organizer Kara Chasteen and her husband Eric were among attendees of the 'Raise the Roof' fundraising event for Joseph's Hammer. The nonprofit is raising money to finish the construction of the women's prison chapel in Burnet.
Benefit organizer Kara Chasteen and her husband Eric were among attendees of the 'Raise the Roof' fundraising event for Joseph's Hammer. The nonprofit is raising money to finish the construction of the women's prison chapel in Burnet. -
Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairman Eric Nichols and his wife Marsha expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support at the Joseph's Hammer fundraising event.
Texas Board of Criminal Justice Chairman Eric Nichols and his wife Marsha expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support at the Joseph's Hammer fundraising event.
Jake Hooker and his legendary band, The Outsiders, took to the stage Saturday, June 22, at the Burnet Community Center to host a benefit for Joseph’s Hammer.
The event brought people from all over Texas together to help “Raise the Roof" on the prison chapel under construction at the Ellen Halbert Unit women's facility in Burnet.
Joseph’s Hammer has raised over $2,400,000 since 2018, and the 8,250 sq. ft. building is well underway.
In attendance was Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott and chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, Eric Nichols.
Nichols shared stories of redemption with the crowd as he emphasized the important role of faith in reducing recidivism and rehabilitating incarcerated people.
Kara Chasteen, a Burnet County resident, active community member and current Burnet County Republican chairwoman, told the crowd of 200 who attended for dinner and dancing, “I knew I wanted to help build this chapel for the women at the prison when I heard about it. A few years ago, I was cleaning up the concession stand after a rodeo event and a young girl from prison was helping. She told me with tears in her eyes that when she was growing up, she also had shown steers. I’ll never forget the look of shame and regret on her face as she shared her story of drug abuse that led to her incarceration." Lynn Zinnecker, Joseph’s Hammer director who spearheaded the event, reminded the crowd, “The ladies in that prison are daughters, mothers, wives, grandmothers, all trying to turn their lives around. This chapel will give them a chance to meet with volunteers, receive a message of hope and a new vision for their future. We want to make sure that there’s enough space so that no one will be turned away from a worship service or faith-based class due to lack of space." "The Raise the Roof proceeds will go to completion of the interior of the building, but we still need to raise the funds for items such as the security fence, which is the largest remaining budget expen-diture. We are literally getting down to the wire," said director Davey Haber as he explained how many feet of razor wire will be needed to tie the new chapel to the existing prison complex." Burnet County hosts the families of over 1,100 women per year at Halbert as they come to visit the women while in prison. They are sent from every community in Texas to the Ellen Halbert Unit for the six- to eight-month drug and alcohol treatzment program. At this facility the goal is rehabilitation, and our faith community has a huge group of volunteers waiting for the new space so they can bring more faith-based classes to these women.
Visit www.josephshammer. org or mail checks to Joseph’s Hammer, P.O. Box 7960, Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657.