As the ACE class I am teaching on Career Coaching and Interviewing Skills comes to a close, I am now redirecting my focus to assisting every inmate at the prison to prepare a Release Plan and ensure they have all their needs met via their social determinants of health. Regardless if the inmate needs to file for a Compassionate Release, a Commuted Sentence, a 2255 (Ineffective Counsel), or for a successful start to their new life outside the prison walls, a Release Plan is paramount.
Most inmates here do not know where to get started in writing their Release Plan, so I have offered the template written by Michael Santos as a guide. To date, I have assisted 24 inmates in writing their Release Plans, 7 with Compassionate Releases to the Warden (and appeals when they were denied), 6 filings of 2255, and 9 for a Commuted Sentence. Additionally, due to the broadcast of Savanah Chrisley (Julie Chrisley’s daughter who is incarcerated with me and a friend of mine in here) and Alice Johnson on Fox News recently, I am assisting my fellow inmates in writing personal letters to Alice Johnson, the current Pardon Czar, in hopes of a pardon and expungement of their records. The inmates I am specifically assisting in this effort are first-time, non-violent offenders, like me, who worked previously in the healthcare field. At our prison camp, writing remediations currently go unheard, and most inmates are here much longer than they are supposed to be by law. I only pray Ms. Johnson is able to assist us.
Regardless of issues faced here at the prison, my resolve and passion to help others does not diminish. There are days, admittedly, that the emotions overwhelm me of the injustice within the BOP, and I spend most of the day in bed reading and writing, rather than teaching. It’s a cathartic reprieve from hearing the stories that are shared with me of the journeys of women incarcerated with me here at Camp Atwood. On the toughest of days, I read Matthew 5- The Beatitudes. Today, was one of those days. Every day, even on days like today, I remember the way I used to think before being incarcerated- that I was grateful when a horrible day was over. Now I realize, there is nothing wrong with the day itself- it’s the people I come across are the problem, and it is my job to respond accordingly to have peace.
