Working in the Peer Success Program has been very rewarding to me personally. I enjoy helping people and when I encounter someone that I can help, I am genuinely happy to assist. It is also rare for me, as a former military prisoner, to be able to assist another service member.
When I arrived at FCI-Aliceville I was housed in C4, and shortly after FCI-Dublin was shut down. A large group of women were sent to all the other female federal institutions. One of the women from FCI-Dublin housed in my unit also ended up being a former military prisoner and we stumbled upon each other. We’ve had many stories to share, not just about time in the service, but also about our time in military prisons (brigs). This woman, I’ll call her Davidson, has a situation that started off slightly worse than mine. Her sentence was longer, so she has a longer road to run and has a harder climb ahead of her. She is also more delicate – mentally and emotionally – so the changeover from the military prison to the federal system and then the changes from Dublin to Aliceville have really taken a toll on her.
For months I have been loosely monitoring her, checking on her, and making sure that she is getting everything she needs from the staff for her programming needs. One of the abrupt changes she endured was to be taken out of her apprenticeship program (Carpentry). Since arriving here Davidson has fought tooth and nail to get re-enrolled into the apprenticeship program, not just so she can complete the program but also so she an show the follow through for her future military hearings. It has been a battle, all up hill. FCI-Aliceville is a special type place deeply entrenched in the “no” response for almost every question. However, as a member of the class action lawsuit, she was guaranteed some privileges in terms of programming. We have been filing administrative remedies in order to ensure she is not penalized in the future for not completing the program. Even that process here in Aliceville is a battle that requires vigilance.
Recently, though, I turned her attention away from what she must face here and focused her on the military hearings she can look forward to in the future. Davidson will have a couple of different tasks to complete and with her more delicate nature, it is important for her to begin preparing now. I remember how long it took me to write a letter to the parole board that was measured and reasonable. When I started, my letters were full of shame, regret and very emotional. I did not create a release plan or list reasons why I was a good candidate for clemency/parole. I listed classes I’d taken but not how I used that information to change my way of thinking. Decades later I’ve become more reasonable and logical. I’ve followed Michael Santos’s guidebook and created a viable release plan. I have contemplated resources I will need upon release or the funding I might need to reenter society successfully and started saving money for that.
Davidson and I have been working on “homework” in which she’s writing and rewriting her letters. She will have to send sample letters to her support network and then her own submission to the clemency/parole board. Since this process involves a plethora of emotions, we’re starting now. It is my fervent hope that she will have something cohesive before she finally relocates to an FCI closer to home. I want her to feel good about anything she submits and, in that light, I’ve given her complete access to my entire file of personal submissions. It is scary to trust someone with so much personal information but I am confident that she will protect it and value it for the gift that it is: knowledge that will one day help her.
This is one of the times that working as a mentor in the Peer Success Program really gratifies me. The years of experience I have accumulated with my time in prison, going through numerous clemency/parole hearings, and persevering no matter the defeat, are all enabling me to help Davidson make a good showing for her upcoming hearings as well as fortifying her emotionally for anything she might encounter. This program is really a gift to the participants more than those being mentored.
