Now You See Me: Underground Ministries

June 26 - October 3, 2027

For years, many of us were cast aside and defined by labels placed on us at a young age. We carried generational trauma, violence, neglect, addiction, gang involvement, and incarceration, often before we understood that another path was possible. Beneath it all, we wanted what every person wants: to be seen, to know our lives matter, and to believe we could restore our identity and self-respect.

Healing did not happen overnight or on our own. It began when someone saw the person underneath the pain and invited us into relationships built on embrace, trust, accountability, and hope. It began in the community! This exhibition of art and poetry, and regaining our identity by removing old wounds and tattoos. Now You See Me reveals both the wounds people have carried and the healing that becomes possible through kinship and community.

Underground Ministries walks alongside incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people, not as labels, but as fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and neighbors. Once we feel seen, we can become a lighthouse that helps others find their way toward healing, belonging, and mutual transformation.

All photos courtesy of Underground Healing:

About Underground Ministries 

Underground Ministries opens new relationships of embrace and trust between the incarcerated and the communities to which they return for our mutual transformation and resurrection. Underground Ministries is a nonprofit organization that provides holistic reentry support for men, women, and families healing from the impacts of gangs and incarceration. Founded in Skagit Valley, Washington, Underground Ministries now reaches people statewide and in other states through its two programs, One Parish One Prisoner and Underground Healing. 

Underground Healing is our grassroots program, which began in Skagit Valley and provides services throughout the North Sound region. It has an intentional focus on gang impacted men and women returning home from prison in Skagit County, providing healing centered support, connection, and individualized reentry navigation. 

We believe that lasting change happens through connection, compassion, accountability, and hope. Every person deserves the opportunity to heal, rebuild relationships, and create a meaningful future, regardless of their past. 

We use healing centered engagement and trauma informed care, recognizing the barriers individuals leaving incarceration often face, including housing instability, unemployment, substance use, trauma, and family separation. We walk alongside participants as they identify their strengths, set personal goals, and build a foundation for long term success. 

Our intake process, Stones and Layers, uses the story of Lazarus as a foundation for healing and restoration. Together, we identify and work through barriers while creating individualized reentry plans that support each person's goals. Our services include release planning, basic needs assistance, rides to appointments, housing coordination, driver's licenses, college enrollment, addiction and mental health support, employment readiness, and more. We also facilitate peer led Underground Healing groups, providing a safe space for connection, accountability, healing, support, and healthy relationships.