CAPE ELIZABETH – Members of the Cape Elizabeth United Methodist Church are helping female former jail inmates rejoin the world after being behind bars.

Three women are now in the mentoring program, called My Sister’s Keeper. The church hopes to expand its program and get other churches involved.

The program was established a year ago to provide the transition services and emotional support that many women may not readily find in their rehabilitation.

The idea was to provide not only emergency money, food and lodging, but also a welcoming community that could provide spiritual and emotional support.

Church member Myrna Cook said the fears and worries of female inmates differed from those of their male counterparts. Cook and her husband, Bill, have been leading Bible study at the Cumberland County Jail for years.

For some women, Cook found there was no natural support system in place because their marriages had dissolved or they had lost contact with their families. Some women feared that without the proper help, they would end up back in jail.

Cook asked the church’s outreach committee for help after she started receiving calls from recently released women with nowhere else to turn.

The church responded by providing money, furniture and appliances and a place for the former inmates to talk about their goals and fears.

Spirituality can help inmates move beyond the cycle of recidivism that seems to plague so many, said the Rev. Jeffrey McIlwain, chaplain at the Cumberland County Jail.

“It’s something that can be sparked in here, and they grow with their spirituality,” McIlwain said.

“But if there’s nothing out there to help them when they get out, nine times out of 10, they’ll fall back into what got them in here.”