Offering hope to those trying to change and encouragement to those trying to help them
After we lay out the structure for our reentry class at the prison, volunteers introduce themselves. This includes our ‘why.’ Why are we here? Not everyone feels a calling to drive to distant locations, clear security, and pass under and around barbed wire. Each volunteer has a ‘why,’ and I feel it is essential to …
In 2007, two years after I had taken over ownership of the bakery, I contacted an attorney about having my criminal record cleared. I was providing 40+ jobs in the community and was a long-time local homeowner. It was relatively uneventful; I paid the attorney and it was over. Or, so I thought. In 2008, …
The Girl in My Wallet, Chapter 23: From Inmate to CitizenRead More »
I think humanity has been asking this question since the dawn of time. It is a bit more personal at this moment, though. We are not reading about a plague from the Old Testament or the Dark Ages. The media is giving us statistics of widespread illness and death to compare to our current COVID-19 …
I had my first experience with separatism in elementary school when the teacher was handing out flyers for an afterschool activity and pulled mine back because it had a fee involved. I was in the free lunch program. I would glimpse racism in my repeated visits to the Peirce County Jail in the early 90’s …
What do you do when you retire on top of a successful bakery career? You go back to jail. I started at the Coeur d’ Alene French Baking Company in 1994 for $5 per hour, minimum wage at the time. In 2005, I found myself at the helm of this multi-million-dollar corporation serving high-quality breads …
A while I back had the privilege to speak to a group of women at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (Purdy) preparing to release. I arrived with an outline for my topic, but ready to invite interaction from the class. I wanted to know what was on their minds to make the best use …