T-L Photo/GAGE VOTA Belmont County Correctional Institute incarcerated individual Carlos Ball and his daughter Carleigha Ball spend the institutes family engagement event together as Ball’s wife Amy Ball sits behind the pair.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Santa Claus spent his Friday afternoon greeting families of incarcerated individuals at the Belmont County Correctional Institute.

Santa arrived at the institute to wish the families of a select few incarcerated individuals a Merry Christmas during the institute’s holiday family engagement event.

Unit manager chief Mike Kolvek said that the institute holds several family engagement events where a select number of individuals can spend additional time with their families without it counting towards the limited visitations they are given per month.

On Friday, 25 incarcerated individuals were allowed to participate in the holiday family engagement event.

“This is a privileged event, so guys who are participating in programs and guys who are abiding by the rules of the institution are guys that were selected to participate in this event,” Kolvek said.

He added that a lot of work goes into the events the institute hosts.

“There’s countless hours of building the displays, games and attractions and just the prep work of purchase orders to buy the food and supplies to make sure that the visitors know what to expect when they come here,” Kolvek said. “We have a great community partner that we’re working with today called Four Seven. They go around to all the institutions in the state of Ohio and supply Christmas presents for the kids that come to see these incarcerated men.”

He added that there’s a lot of coordination, time and effort that goes into making sure the event goes smoothly.

“Just myself, I have about 20 hours wrapped up in organizing this so far,” Kolvek said.

Four Seven Executive Director Kimberly Elliott said that she created the organization eight years ago by only going into three Ohio state prisons but now provides services to every single institution in the state.

“We’re really just here to make this time during the holidays, something that will be memorable for these families,” Elliot said. “We started out at Lebanon, Warren and Dayton correctional institutes and when we first launched it, it was children’s Bibles and board games. We wanted to provide an opportunity for the families to not only be able to share gifts, because it’s not about the gifts, but to really be able to do something engaging, where the incarcerated parent had an opportunity to be a part of the experience.”

She added that, in eight years, the program has grown to where she now has a gift list that she sends out to the institutions, and the parents can select presents based on the age and gender of their children.

“They get an opportunity to spend the day together, sharing a meal, and doing some activities,” she said. “One of the big things we do is building gingerbread houses. It’s an activity where the whole family can participate, from the little one to the older ones. It’s amazing to watch them do it.”

She added the activities provide the families something that the families can converse while building the gingerbread houses.

“When a loved one is incarcerated, it’s not just that person, but the entire family is impacted. And so we want to make sure that as they’re engaging with one another throughout the year,” Elliot said. “It’s also an incentive for the parents to be able to get back to their families, but then it’s also an incentive for the families to stay connected to their loved one, because what’s really important to that person’s reentry success is that connection that they have with their families.”

One of the incarcerated individuals that participated in the holiday event was Darrell Byrd.

Byrd spent the day celebrating the holiday season with his sons Daylen Byrd, Damari Bryd, Jasiah Byrd, and significant other Jasmine Moorer.

Byrd said that events like Friday’s mean everything to him due to not getting to see his family most of the time.

“It actually just gives us a chance to bond and spend the day with each other, catch up and enjoy the holidays,” he said.

Byrd then joked and said that his favorite part of the event was the Chick-Fil-A that was brought in by the institute for the individuals attending the party before saying that his actual favorite part was getting to spend the much needed time with his family.

Moore said the family engagement events are important to the whole family and especially the children who are able to spend time with their father.