It has been a few weeks since I have written a journal entry, because I had issues with the TruLincs system here in the prison. In order to write in that system, you have to provide your inmate number, another unique idenitfier and your fingerprint. After working in healthcare for over 30 years, my fingerprints have always been a challenge, and I got locked out the day before Christmas. As the Trust Fund team was on vacation for two full weeks for the holidays, and then we had a snow storm, I was finally unlocked after speaking with the Assistant Warden here about my situation. She remedied the lock within 24 hours. I am truly grateful to her, as not having communication with my family over the holidays was brutal. I would tell myself that THIS IS PRISON. It’s not supposed to have any conveniences. And I sucked it up.
It has helped in my time in here to frame it much like when I was in Basic Training for the Air Force. We had a strict routine, uniforms, guidelines, classes- much like prison. You weren’t friendly with the TI’s, much like it is with the CO’s in prison. You have to be disciplined and keep things orderly, much like prison. So psychologically, in doing this, it helps.
There are many differences, don’t get me wrong. In the military, we join to serve our country, and in prison, we are serving time as a punishment for a past transgression, as sentenced by a judge. I have been spending a lot of time on suggestions for prison reform, particularly in three areas:
– Unreasonable sentencing guidelines
– Lack of meaningful treatment for inmates with substance use disorders or mental health conditions
– Lack of post-prison preparedness to include:
– educational
-vocational
-social determinants of health
I am preparing letters and offering solutions to the government on ways they can improve the prison system in the areas above, and will be mailing my letters after the new administration takes office. As I said above, you have to remain disciplined in prison, and rather than spending my time playing cards and watching TV, I am learning and growing as an individual to continue my work in Community Health once released later this year. It doesn’t make it entirely easier, as I miss my family terribly, but having a focus to serve and help others definitely gives me a little more peace. I teach on Wednesday evenings in here in the chapel with a class I created called WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). I tie in current events and challenges inmates face in prison with lessons from the bible. I am a Christian, but I respect other faiths (or lack thereof) as well. My messages on Wednesday evenings are lessons of tolerance, self-love, community and loving thy neighbor. They have been very well received in here, and I have been asked to do another Friday night class as well, starting in February. Teaching others, mentoring them, listening to them and offering guidance and resources has been my work for many years. I am grateful I am able to leverage the education and experience I have had over the years to help serve others in prison as well. Until I have the opportunity to return home and be in my husband’s arms again, doing this work, albeit in such a place in prison, helps a bit.