Only last week, I shared my beautiful memories of my dear cousin who passed.
This AM, I have to share with you that my Mom, Edith, passed away at the age of 85. She contracted COVID 2 weeks ago and due to her frail health and heart condition, she succumbed, leaving us shattered in a million pieces.
Being at home and losing a loved one, is devastation all around, BUT being incarcerated and then having to lose a parent, well I cannot begin to describe the enormity of this pain and grief.
I have been walking around in a daze, trying to make the maximum out of the 30 phone minutes per day that the BOP grants us since January 1st, 2025. How do you deal with that when you want to be in close contact with your loved ones, so much needs to be discussed, arranged and so on.
I knocked on every door possible to get help, only my Case Manager gave me a call and now I am trying to get a call through the Chapel of have someone to talk to.
Nobody seems to know how they can be of help, some units have grief support group of volunteers. Within such a huge organization, are you telling me that there are no protocols in place and a contingency plan if staff members are not available?
And what about the phone minutes? When there is an emergency, one needs to be able to pick up the phone and make multiple phone calls. Females are predominantly care givers, mothers, daughters, social centers for their loved ones. Life in prison should not just be an addition of dollars and cents, behind every incarcerated person, is a real life scenario of events. Children get sick, have accidents, face crises, as do spouses, parents, siblings. Even if an incarcerated individual needs to buy additional phone minutes, please allow them, but do not just put a cap on the time they can reach out to their loved ones. In most European prisons, the phone is available 24/7 to make national calls free of charge. Every cell is equipped with a phone, a microwave, a hot water kettle and one can purchase fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry and so on.
Why do people in US prisons have to suffer additionally?
