Transformation of Incarcerated Men by Mindfulness Training

Mindfulness Matters

History and Mission

Our Team

YOU MATTER

Our nonprofit prison ministry, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to transforming lives—both inside and outside prison walls. With a passionate team of volunteers, we provide mindfulness-based training and emotional support to incarcerated individuals, helping them reconnect with their humanity and heal from within.

We believe that real change starts with awareness, and awareness begins with breath. Our work empowers people to respond to life with intention instead of reaction. We carry our convictions with us—not just in word, but in action—and we serve with the belief that everyone deserves a second chance at peace, purpose, and dignity.

Our History

Lighting a path through service, presence, and second chances.

Daystar is a grassroots healing movement rooted in radical compassion and real-world action. We walk with those reentering society after incarceration—offering connection, mentorship, and employment paths rooted in dignity.

Our founder Robert knows the road firsthand and created Daystar as a bridge: between inside and outside, despair and hope, silence and song. Whether it’s lawn and garden care, spiritual counsel, or porch conversations under the stars—every act is a light.

Daystar doesn’t just talk about change. We live it.
One soul, one lawn, one sacred moment at a time.

Our Mission

At the Daystar Awareness Project, our mission is to cultivate healing, awareness, and wholeness through radical compassion and mindfulness-based practices—both within correctional institutions and in the communities to which people return.

We believe that every person, no matter their past, holds a divine spark waiting to be remembered. Daystar is more than a program—it’s a movement of presence, restoration, and sacred witnessing. We walk alongside the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated, not to fix them, but to remind them who they are: worthy, loved, and capable of transformation.

Our work includes:

Facilitating trauma-informed mindfulness and breathwork inside prisons.
Building relationships with individuals and employers in the wider community to create job pathways and support networks for those reentering society.
Developing transitional housing opportunities rooted in safety, dignity, and shared responsibility.
Offering community workshops and public talks that awaken compassion and build bridges of understanding between “inside” and “outside.”

We serve without judgment, without fear, and without the need for recognition. Our mission is simple: to be a steady light in dark places—and to ensure that light keeps burning even after someone leaves prison.

Because healing doesn’t stop at the gate. It begins there.

HELP OUT

Your support makes a difference.

We believe that healing begins with community, and generosity is one of the greatest tools for transformation. Every donation—large or small—helps us bring mindfulness, emotional growth, and practical support to incarcerated individuals seeking a new path.

All online donations are securely processed through PayPal. Funds are used not only for Daystar programs, but also to meet immediate human needs: a phone bill, a ride, a meal, a small act of mercy.

We don’t ask a lot of questions—because when someone is in need, love shows up.

Thank you for helping us walk this road together.

Your secure online tax-deductible donation you make today will help us continue to transform the lives of incarcerated men and women and prepare them for holistic reintegration to our communities.