Dressed in neon green jumpsuits, 54 men formed a line in Allegheny County Jail’s visitor area midafternoon. They waited to receive a tray with servings of fish, rice, hummus, pita bread, mixed vegetables and a slice of chocolate cake, in celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the last day of Ramadan. Rev.
Dr. Charissa Howe stood next to the food transport cart wearing plastic gloves, double checking everyone’s dietary restrictions and casually chatting with the line. This charitable act, handing out food to jailed men, marked her final day of work after four years as director of chaplaincy to hundreds of incarcerated men and women at Allegheny County Jail.
Howe had this position since 2021 as part of a partnership with the Foundation of HOPE, an interfaith nonprofit that focuses on people impacted by the criminal justice system. “It’s been kind of bittersweet making the decision to leave,” she said about her time working as director. “I’m a fundamentally different person.
” Howe had been volunteering for HOPE since 2014 and taught recovery classes from trauma and abuse. Howe clocked so many hours volunteering, she joked, that her options were either to “find a job there or get arrested.” In 2024, the Pennsylvania Prison Chaplains Association named Howe county correctional chaplain of the year.
She also received three degrees from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary — a master of divinity in 2014, a master of sacred theology in 2016 and a doctorate of ministry in 2023, a.
