In the 1970s, Daybreak Prison Ministry founder Royce Harris joined a popular TV program called 100 Huntley Street. There, Harris, who was in his early twenties at the time, met famed songwriter Gene MacLellan, and they became friends through their shared desire to reach offenders in prisons with their music. Shortly thereafter, they began performing gospel music together in federal prisons.
Harris founded Daybreak Prison Ministry in 1979 in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. They started out in temporary lodgings with a staff of six ex-offenders. The organization now serves 800 or more ex-offenders along with their family members.
In 2000, Daybreak Prison Ministry opened their first church for ex-offenders, entirely financed from donations. Harris has quite a breadth of experience in prison ministry, including fourteen years’ service as Community Chaplain for Correctional Services Canada in Nova Scotia.
Harris and MacLellan’s shared dream of helping offenders get back on their feet has never diminished. Harris has built quite a breadth of experience in prison ministry, including prison ministry trips to nations as diverse as South Africa and Scotland. One of his personal dreams was to one day have a studio where he could produce programming to be broadcast into the federal prison system.
In 2019, that dream came a little closer to reality when Harris partnered with Eileen Richardson, a one time owner of the legendary L.A.-based recording studio the Evergreen Stage. Richardson is also an ordained minister currently based in Nova Scotia. Her missionary work overseas included working in orphanages, organizing relief efforts, and teaching in local Bible schools. She was the first Head of Missions for her church, and she’s worked on projects for the Focus on the Family and World Vision organizations.
Together, Harris and Richardson designed and built a new recording studio in Nova Scotia. The project was developed through Richardson’s company DiaDan Holdings Limited, and her friends from her days in Los Angeles.
Richardson has worked with Daybreak Prison Ministry for over 25 years. She has been instrumental in supplying Daybreak Prison Ministry with books, course materials, and teaching tapes. She has spent weeks at a time at the well known Angola Maximum Security Prison in Louisiana. By contributing her talents and experience in the professional recording industry and in prison ministry, she continues to be an important asset to Daybreak’s work.
Daybreak has undergone many transitions over the years and now stands as a vibrant place of gathering and worship in the local community.