Passion

I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world. There are many things I am passionate about, but most of them already have a voice, or several voices. Alternative energy? There’s a new one every day. Sustainability? Even more. Underprivileged kids? Can’t turn around without bumping into another one. And on and on it goes. At least that’s the way it was until I met my husband and found a cause that didn’t have a voice. Reentry. Most people don’t even know what it means. I didn’t until 2 years ago. And I considered myself an educated person. My husband introduced me to a whole new community of people. The people I’ve come to depend on in the last year are people that most would write off. Aside from my husband, the first person I would call on if I were in trouble has been out of prison for just over a year. When I need advise these days I write letters to prison inmates. It all started with my husband who is an ex-felon. Then I started helping him with our religious group and the outreach to groups inside the wire that he corresponded with. At first it was just a few groups here in Nevada. But recently we took over running the national group. Now we have contacts across the country. It wasn’t much of a leap to go from helping the guys (and girls) inside to helping them when they got our. Having never done time, I don’t know the challenges to be faced. But my husband does and I’m learning quickly. A year ago, when one of our boys (and yes that’s how I think of them now, even though many of them are old enough to be my parents) wrote to us in a panic with no where to go and no one to turn to. I started looking for programs to help. All I found in Nevada were funding cuts and no help. It got my husband and I talking. What makes the difference between successful reentry and re-incarceration? Since my husband has been there, done that, I figure he makes a pretty good expert. And now that several of our friends are out we have more input. As I watch their struggles in the free world, I wish I could do more. And there is where the dream comes in. There are successful reentry programs around the country. Some are state or city run. Others are church sponsored. The one constant is that there are far more inmates released every year than the programs can handle. I know that one more program won’t make a huge difference in the big picture. But it will make a difference in the lives of those we help. And we hope that some of those that we help go on to help others. Part of our program will be dedicated to training others to do what we do. That way we can do more without having to do it all ourselves.

Fiona’s reentry

Fiona was a friend of a friend until she was released from prison. It was then that we started talking online and on the phone. By the time I got to know her I knew there were lots of challenges to be faced. And one of her first ones was one I could relate to. I’ll let her speak for herself, but adjusting to a different pace of life is something I had to do every time I traveled outside the US and then came back. Ironically it was the coming back that was always the biggest adjustment. Here is what Fiona had to say about her adjustment.

Some of the biggest challenges I had when I first got out was adjusting to the pace of life. Being able to walk into a store and it be ok. I spent all of my time in a minimum facility where I was able to leave the facility Monday thru Friday for jobs for almost my entire sentence. I had it instilled in me that if I went into another building no matter what the reasoning I would get charged with an escape charge. Due to the jobs I had I was on computers and around the updated technology most of the time so I didn’t really get behind on that. Accept for the phones. Cell phones have come along way and I was like a baby learning how to walk when it came to phones. I had family to parole to, but at the same time my family said they were just waiting on me to fuck up again. They weren’t going to get close or get their hopes up because they weren’t going to allow me to hurt them again when I did screw up because it was inevitable. I had never been in trouble in my life accept for this one time and I had a six year sentence. I had family, but yet I had no one that knew where I was coming from. I felt like an outsider that was never going to get a chance to be something because everyone was waiting on me to fail. That was and still is one of the biggest challenges that I have to deal with.

To me the saddest part of this was family not being supportive. That’s what family is supposed to be for. At least that’s how I was raised. But then I often feel that I’m from a different era. If there is no family for support, where is a inmate supposed to turn? It can be hard figuring out life out here again. A little help goes a long way. I think the most important help my husband and I have been able to provide is a listening ear and encouraging word.

My Introduction to Reentry

The reentry of incarcerated individuals into society was not something that I had dealt with up until a couple of years ago. My life and my focus changed drastically when I met the man who has become my husband. He is an ex-felon who reentered society successfully. How he feels a responsibility to help others do the same. Early in 2010 we received a letter from one of our friends still inside asking us to help a young man who was getting out and not sure if he had anywhere to go. I started researching options in our local area and came up with almost nothing. That was when my dream of starting a reentry program was born. Since then it has been fueled by watching several friends struggle as they get out of prison and attempt to make a life for themselves on the right side of the law. I will be sharing some of the stories later. First I want to share some things that I found. When I was researching reentry the numbers I found were appalling. According to one source one in 99 people here in the US is serving time of some sort. Upon release two out of three inmates will re offend within three years. Those numbers shocked me. We worry about crime in this country and no wonder. We talk about crime prevention, but how many people have heard of reentry programs that try to do something about it? Don’t get me wrong, there are great programs out there. They just happen to be few and far between.

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