“Hello, my name is Donald, I am a Federal Inmate who’s been locked up since November 2015.”
—Donald
Donald* is incarcerated in Michigan, but he’s a Hoosier. He’s from a county in Northern Indiana, and was part of the Seventh Day Adventist Church near his small hometown. In prison, of course, he has no access to the internet, so he has been writing letters to find out how he might get help after release.
Donald’s got a while to wait. He is looking at a release date of September 2028, and in Spring of ’27 he’ll be transferred to a halfway house, where he’ll have more freedom and will transition more smoothly to his final release. In the meantime, he’s not wasting a minute…he’s looking ahead, he’s planning, searching, and getting ready for—yes, success.
Since he is incarcerated in Milan, Michigan, we were surprised that he was receiving information about 2nd Chance Indiana, but in our exchange of letters, he has explained that by writing to the Prison Library Support Network, in Brooklyn, N.Y., for help with connections to apprenticeship and certification programs, 2nd Chance Indiana came up on the search at the very top of the list.
So, he found us, and letters started flying back and forth.He wrote that he wants to get into auto repair, plumbing, electrical trades, or heavy equipment operation, maybe a CDL program that will allow him to drive trucks. But what matters most to him is that he’ll be returning to the small Indiana town of his youth, he’ll be returning to his friends and the Seventh Day Adventist Church family that he misses so much.
He says, “I have made up my mind that I will do nothing that would risk going back to prison. I will be a needed person and play an active role in fixing my past mistakes and making a better future for myself, my family, friends, and community.”
So, although Donald has about 24 more months to serve, from what I’m seeing, he’s going to take off like a rocket when he is released. He’s asked for connections to jobs, to education, and a mentor. So, we’ll be contacting his local church for that help, and know we can get him into an apprenticeship program or one of his other interests so he can not just ‘find work,’ but get the training he’ll need for a real career that will give him an opportunity to build a financial foundation for a good life.
This is one of the great benefits of working in this area of need. People like Donald are the answer to the great question, “Whom can I serve?”
Jim
*Donald is real, but it is not his name.
