More Than Half Way Home: A Story of Accompaniment in the Shadows of Incarceration

by Dustin Feddon

Overview

Here is a gripping analysis of the brutal landscape of the criminal justice system, as well as an ode to the richly complex interior lives of people struggling to become free. Dustin Feddon, a Catholic priest, and founder of Joseph House in Florida, tells it like it is, taking the reader with him on his journey, capturing the heart-wrenching realities of those incarcerated, yet bearing witness to the transcendent love manifest among those the state calls "the worst of the worst." The juxtaposition of an unforgiving justice system and the extraordinary mercy of everyday people is a revelation. From encountering men on death row and witnessing a barbaric execution, to founding a community dedicated to restoring the dignity of formerly incarcerated persons, Father Dustin brings the reader along as he discovers his passion and purpose. Over time, he asks whether spaces could be created that would be the antithesis of confinement dorms, welcoming people called prisoners back into the human family, re-affirming their dignity. His answer, and that of the people of Joseph House, is yes, yes, and yes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626986275
Publisher:	Orbis Books
Publication date:	09/24/2025
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.38(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Dustin Feddon is the Founder and Executive Director of Joseph House, a home and community for men released from prison, located in Tallahassee, Florida. An ordained Catholic priest in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, he began accompanying men on death row and in solitary confinement in 2013, while still attending seminary. His witnessing the trauma and abuse experienced in prison, and lack of assistance on release, resulted in his founding Joseph House in 2018. Fr. Dustin and Joseph House have partnered with Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), Legal Defense Fund, and other groups fighting for greater justice and mercy for those impacted by the criminal justice system.

Editorial Reviews

Father Feddon’s compelling account of helping people recover from incarceration is a story we should all read and understand. The legal punishment system in America can be cruel and harsh, creating deep injuries and wounds that fester and worsen without an intervention rooted in compassion, mercy and love. This extraordinary book is a testament to the power of grace and kindness to heal. We should all learn from it.”

founder and executive director of the Equal Justic Bryan Stevenson

Father Dustin Feddon’s book is at once personal and universal. His dogged search for justice, his loving service to those on death row, and deep and practical care for those who are post-incarcerated through Joseph House, his ministry, reveal a priest in process, dedicated to being a companion along the journey. This is a book of both devastating losses as well as new beginnings, of radical companionship whose stories reveal the human cost of unjust carceral systems while relaying stories of change through community, companionship, and advocacy.”

author of Dead Man Walking and leading voice for t Sister Helen Prejean

In More Than Halfway Home, Dustin Ferdon offers a grace-filled account of his years walking alongside those our justice system has condemned. With clarity and compassion, he reveals the quiet humanity of men we’re taught to fear, and the spiritual depth found in accompaniment. This is a rare and powerful meditation on mercy, presence, and the possibility of redemption.”

author of the Pulitzer prize-winning Devil in the Gilbert King