Verna McFelin
Verna Mary McFelin, MNZM is a New Zealand author, blogger, speaker, and expert in the field of the ‘invisible sentence’ served by the families of prisoners outside of the wire. In 1983, in a bombshell for Verna’s husband, Paul, was arrested for kidnapping and sentenced to 11 years in jail. As the result of her journey, in 1988 she founded Pillars, and organisation that helps prisoners' families.
Recognition
In 2010 Verna was awarded The Oranga Kaupapa personal award in recognition of her work with the families of prisoners.
In 2011 she was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community and, in the same year, was called to the Beehive to receive the “He Mana to ia Tamaiti - Every Child Counts Award” for improving the well-being of children and providing support for their families in New Zealand.
In 2014 Pillars received the Champion Canterbury Business Awards for Charity Award Small Enterprise.
In 2018, she was awarded the highest Rotarian Award, the Paul Harris Fellowship for her services to children.
In 2018 and 2019 she was a finalist in the Next Woman of the Year Award.
In 2019, Pillars took out the Mitre 10 Community of the Year Award at the New Zealander of the Year Awards under Verna’s leadership.
On 19 May 2018, Pillars celebrated its 30th anniversary the same day as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced that New Zealand’s gift to the couple would be a donation of $5,000 to Pillars. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Pillars to ‘unwrap their gift’ by presenting awards of excellence to four of the children.
Verna is a founding member of INCCIP (inccip.org), the International Coalition for Children of Incarcerated Parents and co-organised the inaugural conference in Rotorua, New Zealand in March 2017.
Genre:
- Adult Non-Fiction
Skills:
Branch:
Canterbury
Location:
Christchurch
Publications:
The Invisible Sentence
A fascinating memoir from the wife of a prisoner and how her family survived outside the prison wire. Riveting from start to finish... the incredible story of how a woman and her family survived poverty and injustices, and yet received miraculous provision. How did a woman who suffered such trauma go on to change the face of the justice system in New Zealand and the world?
Verna's and her children's lives changed forever when police knocked on her door one evening and her husband was arrested for a kidnapping, then tried and sentenced to eleven years in jail. While visiting various prisons over the next few years, Verna soon realised that not only were the prisoners serving a sentence, but the families were also serving their own invisible sentences outside the prison wire...
"... a story of institutional maltreatment, of bureaucratic indifference, of the traumatisation and bullying of her children, of individual acts of cruelty and generosity, of hardship, of the value of collective strength and support-and of resilience and faithfulness in the face of adversity." -Sir Kim Workman KNZM, QSO