| This web site was
started because of personal experience. My son spent almost 5 years in
prison. |
My son was not a bad person. In fact, he was
a great person! He had a beautiful wife and 3 children. He had a good job.
He was a wonderful husband and father. Even while he was behind bars,
his letters were lighthearted. He never lost his sense of humor. I won't
go into the details, but a lapse of judgment caused him to lose it all.
I learned a lot about the prison system in those years.
But most of all I learned what a hardship it is on the family left behind.
He had three children and an ex-wife. Although we are not particularly
well off, I did what I could to make sure my grandchildren had what they
needed. I also sent my son money to make his stay a little easier. There
were times I felt I was the one being punished! He told me some inmates
never receive a thing from the outside. No money, no letters, no visits.
Their families had abandoned them.
When he was released, I bought him an outfit to come home
in. He literally had nothing but the clothes on his back. He had lost everything.
Everything. He had no place to live. So he moved in with us. Our children
had been adults for quite some time and my husband and I had been alone
for many years. We had really become set in our ways. We found it difficult
to share our space. He was not exactly fond of the situation, either. At
his age, he had to live with his "mommy and daddy". Since he had no income,
we also had to support him. We were extremely fortunate that he found a
job in a relatively short time. Then we found a junker for him to get back
and forth to work. He was able to be out on his own once again after several
months.
What do those do without the support of their family?
When I was buying that junker for him, I thought, "If I had only thought
ahead and put aside a few dollars a week for him." After 5 years, it could
have been enough to pay for that junker.
I knew that when I was sending him money, not all of it
was helping my son. Some of it helped those who had no one. Now I wished
I could afford to take them all under my wing like a mother hen.
Mmmmm the motherly instinct is strong! I couldn't afford to do it
alone. But I thought that $10 a month is not a lot to ask from someone
with a little heart. And what about those families left behind? Many of
them are in dire need without the support of the inmate. So I devised this
program to help as many inmates and their families as I could. The families
would have some help now and the inmate would have a nice fund when he
was released. Wouldn't that help them get back on their feet?
Well, I made this web site. And I hope it gets the
point across. I know it will take a long time to "take off". But I have
faith that it will. I have faith that before I die I will have been instrumental
in helping many, many inmates get back on their feet. And hopefully my
intervention will prevent some of them from going back to prison. I hope
it will help many little children along the way. I promise to work at it
diligently. And if it results in a single success story, my mission will
have been accomplished.
Thank you for your support and your prayers. If you can
find it in your heart to give up a few dollars a month for a complete
stranger, you will be rewarded tenfold!
UPDATE: I am
so sad. My son met a girl who was exactly not what he did not need. To
make a long story short, he ended up back in jail. He will be there until
fall, 2008. Has he learned anything? Only he knows the answer to that.
Sigh ... Check out Gene's web page at Gene
Franklin |
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