A Volunteer Visitation Program to Federal and Military Prisoners Throughout the United States
Honorary Board
Eric Corson
Eric was Executive Director of PVS from 1977-2017, leading the organization as it expanded throughout the country to hundreds of volunteers visiting at dozens of institutions. As the face and heart of PVS for four decades, Eric built hundreds of close relationships with visitors, Bureau of Prisons staff, and those we visit. Upon retirement, Eric wrote and published “Reaching Beyond Prison Walls: Stories of Volunteer Visitors and the Prisoners They See,” based on interviews with PVS visitors.
Luis “Suave” Gonzalez
Suave is a former PVS Board member who is active in helping formerly incarcerated people successfully transition to their home communities by serving as an Administrative Reentry Coach at the Community College of Philadelphia. Suave is the subject of the national IDA and Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast “Suave,” as well as the creator of the “Death by Incarceration” podcast, which addresses the criminal justice system from the inside out.
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Kathleen Hawk Sawyer
Kathy was Director of the federal Bureau of Prisons from 1992-2003, and then again from 2019-2020. She began her career with the BOP as a psychologist at FCI Morgantown and served in several different capacities before becoming the Bureau’s first female Director. Kathy was a supporter of PVS as it expanded into more prisons, and even attended a PVS training conference in 1997. She has received numerous prestigious awards for her leadership, including the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Management, the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service, and the Presidential Distinguished Executive Award.
Jim Marren
Jim served 19 years in federal prison and was visited by PVS volunteers at three different institutions. The first day he was released to a halfway house in Philadelphia, he walked to the PVS office to thank us and offered to help. Eventually, Jim was permitted to become a PVS visitor himself, and attended several PVS conferences, where other visitors enjoyed talking with and learning from him. Jim also served on the PVS Board of Directors for several years.
Rachel Osborn
Rachel is a retired professional fundraiser and a longtime volunteer for PVS. A former PVS visitor with her husband Nicholas Butterfield at Butner, NC, she served on the PVS development committee starting in 6.1997 and was a PVS Board member from 9.2004 through 12.31.2022. She served as PVS Board Chair from 4.18.2015 through 12.31.2021 and as Board Secretary through 2022. She and her husband reside in Allentown PA and are the parents of two adult children. Rachel is a member of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of friends (Quakers). She enjoys traveling, reading, gardening, and the gourmet cooking of others.
Jean Rosenberg
Jean and John Rosenberg live in the mountains of eastern Kentucky in the city of Prestonsburg. They moved from Washington, D.C. where John had served as a Trial Chief and Jean had been a paralegal in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. They were involved in many significant civil rights events during the 1960’s.
Following their move to Prestonsburg in 1971, Jean established the first Lamaze childbirth classes in the Region, on her community college campus. This led her to become employed in several other positions in which she could support low-income mothers seeking to obtain an education at the community college. She established a support program with a full-time meeting room; instruction in lifestyle classes; and a loan fund for emergency expenses. At the same time, she was able to obtain an Associate Degree in Nursing. Jean has been involved in many other community efforts, especially in seeking to improve the educational resources in Floyd County. She has been PTA President and written the grants to provide support for gifted education. Jean also led a five-year effort to create a city ordinance to eliminate secondhand smoke in workplaces. 2014 she was contacted by PVS volunteer Bertha Daniels and became a visitor at USP Big Sandy. Jean has served as a PVS visitor there since.
John Rosenberg
John became the Director of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (“Appalred”), a non-profit agency, based in Prestonsburg, that provides free representation to low-income persons in civil matters in the 37 high poverty counties of eastern Kentucky. The agency particularly prioritized coal related matters such as environmental damage, mine safety and black lung disease. Following his retirement in 2002, John was appointed to the state’s Public Advocacy Commission, which oversees the Public Defender system in Kentucky, a position he continues to hold. This position has given him new insights into the issues surrounding criminal defendants, and a special appreciation for PVS and its visitors. He has been a strong supporter of Jean’s visitation, and PVS. John continues to be involved state and national Bar activities and with various non-profit agencies serving low-income people.
Betty Woodman
Betty was recruited to be a PVS visitor by PVS co-founder, Fay Honey Knopp. Active in the United Church of Christ, Betty was serving as President of the Connecticut State Women’s Fellowship, when she first heard Honey speak, and asked her to lead a UCC retreat. Later, Honey asked Betty to join her in visiting at FCI Danbury, and when Honey retired as Local Coordinator there, recruited Betty to replace her. Betty continued to visit for 35 years, while remaining active on national committees of the UCC.
