Paula and Nathan Young are here to serve, encourage, and help you navigate through this journey of having an incarcerated loved one.
In 2013, Nathan was arrested and placed in a Florida county jail due to a DUI incident. He spent an entire year in the county jail then was later sentenced to seven years in a Florida State Prison.
Both Paula and Nathan grew up in the church world. This journey they found themselves on was one they were not familiar with as well as their family and friends.
They had support from friends and family as well as the local church. Yet, many of the people could not relate to or comprehend the devastation that this incident placed on their family. At the time of Nathan’s arrest, they had a daughter in college and a son that just turned thirteen. The reality was no one knew how to deal with this situation or what to even say or do.
They are both very grateful for their local church that reached out with resources to help in the time of immediate crisis. The leadership of the church loved them and brought encouragement in that time of need, but there was still a very big hole that Paula did not know where to turn for help to fill in the missing pieces.
The church they attended was very gracious to Paula, but she found she did not fit into any category being a prison wife. Paula basically lost her social life altogether. And Sunday’s after church dining out with other couples and friends turned into lonely afternoons at home.
God knew Paula’s struggles and through a friend of mine, she was told about a retreat in Texas. God provided a way for her to go and it was at this retreat that she met Shonda, who was one of the speakers. Paula and Shonda ended up being roommates and shared their stories, poured their hearts, and visions with each other about the desire to help families on the outside with incarcerated loved ones.
Shonda’s passion to help families and be the support for families on their unexpected journey blessed Paula with encouragement and wisdom as preparation for Paula before her husband returned home.
Nathan was released in 2020 and now serves along side with Paula in Fortress of Hope ministries. They have been married for 34 years and their purpose is to help married couples navigate through the journey of incarceration in their relationship and bring encouragement to prison wives and prison husbands.
The Young’s encourage you to take advantage of the resources you have available at Fortress of Hope and join us on the monthly Zoom calls.
To contact Paula & Nathan Young, send an email to paula [at] fortressofhopeministries.com.
(Note use the @ instead of [at].)