It's not for the faint of heart
living for the moment, years, decades
locked in a gray, concrete cell
dimly lit and poorly ventilated,
maybe with a cell mate.
Each day much like the ones before
and the ones to come
Crushing loneliness, anger, fear, disrespect, hopelessness, cures trapped inside
And endless time to carry the burdens of the past
But there are some who accept the call
to do the hard work required
Whose spirits enter row and heal
and who learn to stand up straight
enter and walk into the light
Answer, I can hear God back in
Come my beloved child, You whom I have
Loved in your best and worst of times
Know you are loved. Know you are forgiven.
Rang my love and hope and
peace to those around you.
And then there is one very long embrace.
Going into my parole board hearing was a big challenge
for me, but I faced it. The best part of it all was that my
victim was there. He said that he forgave me, and I was
shocked to hear those words.
Because I never thought that
he would forgive me, or that I deserve forgiveness.
Today I am grateful for forgiveness, as I also hold no
resentments. So, I take comfort in knowing that God is
great and I know he is helping me. Sometimes throughout
my day I see signs and I say oh it's him, he knows me in
his own way.
~Alonzo Hernandez
I'm serving a term of 19 years to life. I've been on a path
towards growth and I'm working on change.
I've never noticed or thought about myself or behaviors
I was extremely immature on how I thought,
therefore reacting.
Today I'm becoming mindful and aware of
myself & my emotions. I study deeply.
I need help in this change.
I need help in understanding.
~Peter Rodriguez
Thank you for all the PREP courses you have provided me.
I really enjoy doing them
and I always learn something new about myself.
It's not always something that I'm proud of,
however I am able to fix the issues,
once I see my flaws. I really enjoyed
the Gang Awareness course that I'm working on right now.
PREP is always a blessing to all of us trying and changing our lives. It's not easy, especially since I've been using drugs and gang banging since the summer of 5th
grade. With your help I know I can do it.
~Simon Velasco
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