At the heart of what Rio Verde University desires to accomplish is its’ long time continuing efforts to work with those people who find themselves incarcerated for extended periods of time. Rabbi Dr. Moishe Cordoba who has worked in De Prisión Federal programs along with his wife Dr. Rivkah Cordoba (both clinical psychologists) in Mexico for over 3 decades has devoted his life to the proposition that “people can change, they can improve”.

Along with volunteers in the United States and Chih., MEX., Dr. Cordoba assists in supplying FREE correspondence courses to prison inmates. Working primarily with Beth Adonai Congregations INTL, and City of Refuge Prison Ministries, the Cordoba’s spend tireless hours encouraging both by personal contact, and via mail many of those ‘forgotten people’ behind bars. In El Paso, Texas City of Refuge coordinator Carol Ernest, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Karen Landino, in Dallas, TX, Dr. Joseph Rubenstein, and in Utah, Dr. Auriel Combs, assist in the project. A host of pen pals, visitor volunteers, and support groups, collect books, notebook paper, and study materials to supply the several thousand inmates that the University inmate coursework program facilitates.
 

Many of the courses stem from basic theology, to psychology, family interaction, and history. All of the courses offered through the RVU system are provided at NO CHARGE to qualifying inmates. Each program is spearheaded by the local institution’s prison chaplaincy officer. In some cases were the institution has no such position RVU works through outside visiting chaplains.

Since beginning the program in 1996 over 25,000 FREE courses have been distributed. Says Dr. Rubenstein, “many of the courses are very basic introductory courses, but some of the courses requested are full blown college level coursework.”
One of the more unique offshoots of the RVU inmate education project was the creation by affiliated organization “The World Education Center” of Salt Lake City, Utah of a scholarship program for the children of inmates. Each year WECI goes through the files of recommended recipients submitted by prison chaplains to ‘spend all of the available revenue’ not specifically earmarked by donors to WECI. In May of 2005 a grant given WECI for $2,000.00 by the International Prison Ministries Association, UK, which was directly distributed to 20 high school seniors for use in the Fall 2005 semester.
The need is great and RVU is proud to be a small part in helping ‘good people who have made bad decisions’ improve their educational status and hopefully their futures.