After release..

Hi Ham, I think lots would like to write their pals after release but I think its often unrealistic. Like it or not life can get in the way and this can be a good thing!

I always approach it that bringing some sunshine into a lonely souls world is what its about and if they dont need me when they go home, then thats great cos they are no longer lonely!

I know its vastly different with the romantic relationships, Im just talking about pals :)

Cheers
dreamer

I agree, I have had only one pal released and have only had a couple of emails since, but I was the one that said to him that only when he has time, that's fine as I'm happy that he is getting on with his life and I'm gratefull that I could help him make his time go quicker cause like dreamer said at the end of the day that is why I started writing in the first place was to be a friend for someone in need. And he has promised to "check in" here and there and that's great!

I have only had one pal who's been released so far, and thru MY stupidity we lost touch - she emailed me a lot when she was released and then I moved jobs and can't find her email address anywhere now!

:-(

I have only had one pal released and upon his release we talked on the phone daily but now he is working, visitation with his daughter, has a serious girlfriend so we only talk occasionally. But we still keep in touch and contact one another with important news... I think we will keep in touch for years to come on an occasional basis. We were not really close as pen pals though either, just occasional friendly notes back and forth so I think that makes a difference.

Hey All,,,,My dude who was waiting to be deported called me last nite!!!!! Free and back in Panama,,,He sounded sooooooHappy!
He had a 9yrs to Life sentence under the Rockerfeller Laws,,that thanks to Russel Simmons got repealed,,,They reduced his sentence to 9 years served,, dropping off the Life,,the funny thing is He went up for parole just about the same time and they granted him parole so either way He was getting out!
I told him dont think because his calls are no longer collect that they will cheaper,,He is still in another country,,,hahaha.
but I am so happy for him alot of men with life dangling on thier sentence spend years in prison never making parole,,like my x-husband
Babi

I have kept in touch with my pal. He was released in feb and doing well. I dont think all of them end with ending the friendship.

Hi all,

I lost contact with my dear friend Jesse. He was earlier released in July this year, since then I have received 1 letter from him, and since then never a word. I know he was trying to go home from Texas to California, so I knew he was somewhere in a halfway house in TX. Have written a letter to his place in CA, but never heard anything from him ever since. I hope he is alright and happy.

Mine are all Death Row or in for Life, one has a sentence of 65 years (which i still can't get my head around). One will be free soon enough, (Janurary)just not in the way he would like.

My pp gets released one year from today, and he always tells me in his letters that we will be friends for life. I hope and pray that we will still call/email/write each other occasionally when he gets out, because through this process I have realized that I need his friendship as much as he needs mine!

Initially, I told him that I would be there for him for as long as he needed me thinking that being a typical released prisoner and a good-looking 28 year old, that that would mean that I won't hear from him when hes out. But he reassures me that because I am one of the few people there for him during the hardest part of his life, that will will be forever pals!

I still write to the one that was released and then months later is back in jail. Some of you remember he was suppose to have come to live with me, but got side tracked with a women and didn't show up. Now he wants forgiveness. My new motto: Forgive but don't forget :-)

I am still in contact 2 months out. It's hard rough at times but she's still going strong even though her living situation has changed. It came be done, the released pp just needs to stay focused.

I'm in touch with some of mine...three in particular. In fact, one called today. He was in prison 18 years and I knew him most of that time, has been out 5 years and we still stay in touch.

I havn't written an update in a while.my released pp thought she had a job at a Petro plant in the Houston area and was set to go on a Monday 3 weeks ago , and the plant refused her and 3 others entertance,doing a background check at the gate.So it was back to square one for a couple of weeks. And now she thinks she has a job at another plant, has talked to the manager who will meet her at the gate tomorrow when hopefully she will be allowed to work.

I took someones advise on another thread and googled "Jobs for Ex Felons in Houston" there was a wonderful article in the Houston Paper about a guy who does a placement service and has gotten good results. He even goes to Prisons and recruits prisoners soon to get out.

He was stuck in traffic one day and looked to one side and saw unused construction equipment and looked to the another side and saw conviction playing basketball. It's a really interesting article and shows what can be done if someone is willing to give Ex Felons a chance.

I always thought that inmates need us most after they are released.

This thought pattern started way back when CET had his experience.

Now, when I read rickinks experience, I am convinced that our Pals do neeed us more when they get out than when they are inside...althouth I cuold be convinced that it is not a 'more or less' issue but is perhaps an ,'as much but different', issue.

Recidivism in the US is somewhere up around 50% after 3 years released. There is a reason for that. Inmates getting released normally have no funds, no job, no place to live. Common thought is that they are released, get a job, earn funds, get a place to live and survive happily ever after. Common thought is WRONG!!

Some problems arise in this theory...

1. No one will hire an ex-felon...even minimum wage no skills required jobs are out of reach for ex-felons.

2. Released inmates have no credit rating...credit rating no decent housing available.

3. Landlords want one month rent in security deposit up front and one months rent.

It is damn hard to be an ex-felon....and those who just don't understand how anyone would 'go back to prison' has'nt gone hungry, gone cold, gone lonely on the street...because in too many cases that what awaits a released inmate.

My Pal, my wife and me have been working for over year setting in place all the details that need to happen when she is released. Between the classes and outside courses she is taking in regards to earning a living and out working out the details of housing, clothing, job search we wthnnk we have everything nailed down, but it has taken a huge amount of time and energy and never would have happened if she were released and then started to try and make it all come together. Likewise...she could not have done it on her own from the inside.

So it is important to do what we can to maintain contact and be a part of their lives...unless of course they already have someone on the outside that can help them get strted and settled in.
Just my thoughts

Tom