{"id":985,"date":"2015-12-02T11:48:15","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T16:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acutabove.wpengine.com\/?p=985"},"modified":"2015-12-03T15:34:29","modified_gmt":"2015-12-03T20:34:29","slug":"985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?p=985","title":{"rendered":"Incarceration"},"content":{"rendered":"
Madeline Halpert<\/strong>
\nThe Communicator
\nAnn Arbor Community HS
\n1st Place Division 4, News Writing
\nHuman Interest Feature<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

It happened during the third year of\u00a0<\/span>his prison sentence when a gang fight\u00a0<\/span>escalated.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIt was either hurt or be hurt, and<\/span>[God] stopped me and said, \u2018Take a\u00a0<\/span>look at this and try something differ<\/span>ent.\u2019 And I did,\u201d Schultz said.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was then that Schultz\u2019 life began to\u00a0<\/span>change.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI stopped being that person,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI looked where my life was going and\u00a0<\/span>how it was continuing to deteriorate.<\/span>I was becoming more like an animal\u00a0<\/span>than a responsible man, and I had to\u00a0<\/span>stop that.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Schultz started going to the church\u00a0<\/span>in prison, where he found Northridge\u00a0<\/span>prison ministry. This program is one\u00a0<\/span>of many intended to help prisoners\u00a0<\/span>become more responsible during and\u00a0<\/span>after their time in prison. Through\u00a0<\/span>letters, church activities and pro-so<\/span>cial groups, Schultz began to surround\u00a0<\/span>himself with better individuals.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u201c[I found] my new social group, my\u00a0<\/span>new role models,\u201d Schultz said. \u201cI\u00a0<\/span>didn\u2019t have to be that tough guy that I\u00a0<\/span>thought I needed to be. <\/span>I could look at\u00a0<\/span>these other people and say, \u2018This is the\u00a0<\/span>person that I want to be.\u2019<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
According to a study from the U.S.<\/span>Bureau of Justice Statistics, an esti<\/span>mated 68 percent of 405,000 prison<\/span>ers released in 30 states in 2005 were\u00a0<\/span>arrested for a new crime within three\u00a0<\/span>years of release from prison. 77 percent\u00a0<\/span>were arrested within five years. Ken<\/span>Smith, one of the leaders of the Prison<\/span>Ministry at Northridge Church, says\u00a0<\/span>that through their program, they can\u00a0<\/span>significantly reduce this percentage.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cWe have found that with people who\u00a0<\/span>develop faith and understanding, it\u00a0<\/span>gets down to about 25 percent [of peo<\/span>ple who return to prison],\u201d Smith said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Smith explains the ministry has a\u00a0<\/span>multitude of methods intended to help\u00a0<\/span>their \u201cfriends inside\u201d get back on their\u00a0<\/span>feet. One of these ways is by building\u00a0<\/span>relationships with them through a pen\u00a0<\/span>pal program.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe write to people inside and send\u00a0<\/span>them materials about things that they\u00a0<\/span>can do as far as anger and all kinds of\u00a0<\/span>other issues,\u201d Smith said.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Smith adds that the ministry also does\u00a0<\/span>one-on-one visits with the prisoners,<\/span>where they\u2019re able to talk freely about\u00a0<\/span>who they are now, and who they would\u00a0<\/span>like to be in the future.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Their program \u201cOne Day with God\u201d\u00a0<\/span>offers the opportunity for reconnection\u00a0<\/span>between incarcerated parents and their\u00a0<\/span>children.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWe take the children of our friends\u00a0<\/span>inside in the prison for the whole day,\u201d<\/span>he said.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The day consists of playing games,<\/span>music and crafts. At the end of the day,<\/span>the children leave with a big package of<\/span>gifts from their parents.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Smith feels it\u2019s important the pris<\/span>oners get a chance to do these types of\u00a0<\/span>activities. He believes they deserve for<\/span>giveness.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cPeople think that people in prison\u00a0<\/span>are like [they are] in the movies,\u201d he\u00a0<\/span>said. \u201cThey\u2019re not. They\u2019re just like you<\/span>and me. They put their pants on the\u00a0<\/span>same way we do, they have families\u00a0<\/span>they love, they have the same concerns\u00a0<\/span>that we have, but they did something\u00a0<\/span>wrong, and they got caught for doing it,<\/span>and now they\u2019re paying the price. But\u00a0<\/span>they deserve another chance, and God\u00a0<\/span>gives another chance.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Schultz wishes that people would\u00a0<\/span>think twice before judging someone\u00a0<\/span>who has been incarcerated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cMen and women who are in pris<\/span>on\u2013 they are human beings,\u201d Schultz\u00a0<\/span>said.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAnd they can change, and change\u00a0<\/span>takes hard work on their part, but it\u00a0<\/span>also takes forgiveness by society to take\u00a0<\/span>them back into the community.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He says that the current justice sys<\/span>tem, along with rates of mass incarcer<\/span>ation, do not allow for change. He likes<\/span>to think of it as putting a shoebox on a<\/span>shelf for a period of time. A few years,<\/span>or ten years, or 20 years go by, and\u00a0<\/span>it\u2019s time to send the shoebox home, so\u00a0<\/span>someone takes the shoebox off the shelf\u00a0<\/span>and releases it into the world. But it\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>still the exact same shoebox someone\u00a0<\/span>put on the shelf 20 years ago.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Schultz believes programs like\u00a0<\/span>Northridge Prison Ministry gives pris<\/span>oners a chance to feel like more than\u00a0<\/span>just another shoe box on the shelf, to\u00a0<\/span>feel like they\u2019re evolving.<\/span>\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cA lot of men and women are in pris<\/span>on because of poor self-image, feeling\u00a0<\/span>ashamed that they can never be any-<\/span>thing other than that inmate,\u201d Schultz\u00a0<\/span>said. \u201cBecause in prison, that\u2019s what<\/span>you are. You\u2019re an inmate or a number,<\/span>so you don\u2019t feel like a human being<\/span>anymore. These programs help you to\u00a0<\/span>strive to be something that you didn\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>think you could be.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\u00a0It was after a mother finished read<\/span>ing the story \u201cFish Had a Wish\u201d in the\u00a0<\/span>Women\u2019s Huron Valley Correctional\u00a0<\/span>Facility that she began to cry. She was\u00a0<\/span>narrating a tape that would soon after\u00a0<\/span>be given to her child.<\/span>
\n\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
Karen Smyte, a volunteer and board\u00a0<\/span>member of the program Staying In\u00a0<\/span>Closer Touch, was with the imprisoned\u00a0<\/span>mother. Smyte thinks the repetition<\/span>of the word \u201cwish\u201d in the book is what<\/span>made her cry. She believes the mother\u00a0<\/span>was thinking, \u201cI wish, I wish, I wish, I\u00a0<\/span>could be with my child.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cStaying in Closer Touch\u201d is one of<\/span>Children\u2019s Literacy Network\u2019s four\u00a0<\/span>main programs to help get books in\u00a0<\/span>the hands of low income children. The\u00a0<\/span>program\u2019s volunteers work at three\u00a0<\/span>correction facilities in Michigan: the\u00a0<\/span>Washtenaw County Jail, the Women\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Huron Valley Correctional Facility and\u00a0<\/span>the Men\u2019s Federal Detention Center in\u00a0<\/span>Milan.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The volunteers then help mothers,<\/span>fathers, grandmothers and grandfa<\/span>thers select books for their children\u00a0<\/span>and grandchildren record readings of\u00a0<\/span>the books. They send these recordings,<\/span>along with cards decorated by the par<\/span>ents, to the children of the prisoners.<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Kristy Cooper, the executive director\u00a0<\/span>of Children\u2019s Literacy Network, says\u00a0<\/span>the program can serve more than one\u00a0<\/span>purpose.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cFor a lot of the children, it\u2019s a really\u00a0<\/span>great experience to hear their parents\u2019\u00a0<\/span>voice on command,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd to\u00a0<\/span>actually be able to do that in the context\u00a0<\/span>of encouraging reading and helping\u00a0<\/span>them be interested in reading is vital.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Cooper says that the tapes can be de<\/span>livered to children all over the state.\u00a0<\/span>Because the Women\u2019s Huron Valley\u00a0<\/span>Correctional Facility is the only wom<\/span>en\u2019s prison in the state, any woman\u00a0<\/span>who is incarcerated in Michigan is then\u00a0<\/span>brought to Ypsilanti. This can make it\u00a0<\/span>difficult for the children to see their in<\/span>carcerated parents.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
According to the U.S. Bureau of Jus<\/span>tice Statistics, around 53 percent of\u00a0<\/span>people held in the nation\u2019s prisons in<\/span>2007 were parents of minor children.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
For Rick Duncan, a volunteer at the<\/span>Milan Men\u2019s Federal Correctional Fa<\/span>cility, the program hit close to home.<\/span>He found an ad for Staying in Closer\u00a0<\/span>Touch during a difficult time in his life\u00a0<\/span>when he was looking to volunteer reg<\/span>ularly.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen I saw it, it sent a shiver down\u00a0<\/span>my spine because my dad had been in<\/span>carcerated for ten years,\u201d Duncan said.<\/span>\u201cAnd not only was he incarcerated, but\u00a0<\/span>he\u2019s also illiterate.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Duncan was 25 years old when his fa<\/span>ther was imprisoned. He says it felt al-<\/span>most like a death in the family\u2013 except\u00a0<\/span>worse, because the pain continued on\u00a0<\/span>with no closure.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI closed off to the world,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt was very painful. All day long, every<\/span>day, I had this aching, searing feeling in\u00a0<\/span>my stomach.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Duncan says that, no matter how hard\u00a0<\/span>he tried, he could not stop caring about\u00a0<\/span>his father. He visited him often. They\u00a0<\/span>wrote letters which, due to his father\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>illiteracy, could be incredibly difficult\u00a0<\/span>for the average person to understand.<\/span>Still, Duncan and his father remained\u00a0<\/span>in close contact.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Duncan explains that during a per-<\/span>son\u2019s time in prison, their relationships\u00a0<\/span>with family members are often messy.<\/span>He likes that the program can provide\u00a0<\/span>a form of effective communication for\u00a0<\/span>parents and their children.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIf they\u2019re going to be in touch any-<\/span>way, this is an opportunity to make that\u00a0<\/span>contact as positive as possible,\u201d Dun-<\/span>can said.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Jan Brimacombe, the first volunteer\u00a0<\/span>at the Milan\u2019s Men\u2019s Federal Correction\u00a0<\/span>Center, says she does it because of the\u00a0<\/span>positive feedback from inmates.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cIt was just amazing to hear a grand-<\/span>mother say, \u2018My grandson listens to\u00a0<\/span>this book every day. He takes the book\u00a0<\/span>to bed,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Brimacombe also likes the personal\u00a0<\/span>twists the prisoners add to the stories.\u00a0<\/span>On one particular occasion, a father<\/span><\/div>\n
chose a story about three little owls\u00a0<\/span>waiting for their mother to come home\u00a0<\/span>from hunting. The father changed the\u00a0<\/span>three owls\u2019 names to the names of his\u00a0<\/span>own children, and the mother owl to\u00a0<\/span>the father owl.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Brimacombe says that one of the larg<\/span>est challenges the program faces is get-<\/span>ting new volunteers into the prisons.<\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cOur biggest frustration is not with\u00a0<\/span>the men, but with the bureaucracy,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Brimacombe said. \u201cI have a volunteer<\/span>I met with in October who wants to do\u00a0<\/span>this program, and she still hasn\u2019t been\u00a0<\/span>called by the prison to be trained.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She says that there can also be mis-<\/span>communications between the program\u00a0<\/span>and the prison. If the prison is under<\/span>
\nlockdown, it\u2019s difficult to contact the\u00a0<\/span>prison to find out what\u2019s going on.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Smyte adds that there can be a dif<\/span>ferent kind of difficulty for the inmates.\u00a0<\/span>She says the hardest moment is when\u00a0<\/span>the book is closed.<\/span>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cThe moment the recorder goes off is\u00a0<\/span>exactly when the absence of not being\u00a0<\/span>with that child is felt acutely,\u201d Smyte\u00a0<\/span>said.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Smyte feels the program could be ex<\/span>panded to many other prisons to help\u00a0<\/span>prisoners remain in contact with their\u00a0<\/span>families.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cMy dream is to spread the program\u00a0<\/span>all around the country,\u201d she said. \u201cI be<\/span>lieve it\u2019s a relatively easy intervention\u00a0<\/span>that helps build community and con<\/span>nects families.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Smyte hopes to create a book club with\u00a0<\/span>the parents and their children. She be-<\/span>lieves it would provide an opportunity<\/span>to bring children of incarcerated par-<\/span>ents together, with no shame involved.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Duncan says the most gratifying part\u00a0<\/span>for him comes with thinking about what\u00a0<\/span>these stories mean to the children, and\u00a0<\/span>how it inspires a love of reading.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cSome child that was just born\u2013 they\u00a0<\/span>didn\u2019t do anything to deserve what they\u00a0<\/span>have,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been dealt<\/span>
\nsome difficult cards, but that package\u00a0<\/span>that you\u2019re holding is going to bring\u00a0<\/span>them such happiness.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madeline Halpert The Communicator Ann Arbor Community HS 1st Place Division 4, News Writing Human Interest Feature<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61,4],"tags":[48,23],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-humaninterestfeature","category-nw","tag-48","tag-division4","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Riley Anson","author_link":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/?author=4"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6K0n6-985","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acutabove.mipamsu.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}