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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2011)
voices Prisons Of Our Own Making 1*128 APRIL 1. 2011 W W W .JU S T O U T.C O M Jenny had access to health care, would she have shoved that needle in her arm the first time? If Lisa hadn’t lost her job due to a financial crisis and had help getting back on her feet, would she The first time I drove through the entrance have succumbed to the downward spiral in o f Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, I won which she found herself? It’s easy to speculate— dered, “W hat happened to all the color?” The and harder to change— a system that focuses on high fences topped with razor wire were less cleaning up messes rather than preventing them intimidating than the overwhelming tones o f like an invisible cloud. They tried not to look too warm shower,’’ she said. “Before I came to prison, neutrality. I walked through the huge metal long at us, each taking a quick inventory o f our I was sleeping under a bridge.” I told her that doors and saw the officer sitting behind a glass clothes and shoes, something quite interesting to prison shouldn’t be a step up for anyone. wall. I slipped him my identification through someone who's been wearing the same thing for There are nearly 1,200 inmates at Coffee cent since the 1980s and is rising. They are virtu the metal slot. “You’re a little older than the rest years: denim jeans and navy blue sweatshirts with Creek, and it’s estimated that close to 80 percent ally invisible to the rest o f us; their stories don’t o f the students, aren’t you?” he mused. “Thanks “IN M A T E ” printed in orange. All o f their shoes o f them have a diagnosis o f mental illness. M ost really matter to anyone and there will be a long for noticing,” I answered. He gave me a red visi were clean— like they’d never been worn outside. were victims o f violence who often turned to il line o f women to replace them upon their re 1 wondered how long it would take before I legal drugs to self-medicate. W hen “Jenny” was spective releases. They will walk back out into a The inmates came into the room after us; we heard their stories. We weren’t permitted to ask a young mother o f two, she suffered a serious car world that doesn’t care about their situation, and were the “outside” students and they were the them what crime they committed— and they accident that required her to be on large doses o f their future will consist o f trying to find some “inside” students and together we were partici were encouraged not to tell us— but most peo pain medication and, like so many, she became one to hire an ex-convict and figuring out how pating in a college class called “Inside O ut ple can’t help but share glimpses o f their lives. dependent. Upon losing her health insurance, to put food on the table for their children (those she took up a friend’s offer, heroin. “And that who still have custody o f their children). tor’s tag and led me through a metal detector. from occurring in the first place. The number o f women incarcerated in the United States has increased more than 400 per Prison Exchange.” This terminology was in “Tam i” came to Coffee Creek six years ago at tended to create a more equal atmosphere in age 19. She has two sons that she only men which we could relate to each other as fellow tioned once. Seventy percent o f the inmates have “Lisa” didn’t finish the eighth grade but al prison in which they live is and will continue to pupils, classmates and peers. The idea is good in children; my classmates shared the difficulties o f ways managed to find good jobs, ending up in be their safety net. That concept seems so very theory, were it not for the fact that at the end o f keeping in touch with their kids— most o f them the mortgage business. W hen she lost her job, backward to me but can’t change until we col class, we checked out with the guard and got separated by long distances and caregivers or ex- things started to go downhill. That, coupled lectively decide to put humanity first and capi our driver’s licenses back. We walked to our husbands who can’t or won’t bring the children with a few bad relationships and poor self-es talism last, and learn to serve people rather than cars and drove away to continue our days, going for visits. Envelopes and stamps must be pur teem, led her to crime— and to the minimum attempt to fix them. Maybe then women like to work or class— or like me, to Costco to make chased with money earned from each woman’s security unit she shares with 200 other women. Tam i, Jenny and Lisa will have a chance. J# ] my weekly $100 contribution that keeps me in prison job. The most an inmate can earn in a These three classmates made big enough m is Cabernet Sauvignon, shampoo and rotisserie month is around $70, which must pay for every takes to land them in prison. Still, I can’t help Names have been changed to protect the inmates' chicken. thing, including phone calls, toiletries, shoes and but think that the rest o f us played a hand in identities. Kathryn M artini is a freelance writer , They seemed just as intimidated by us as we extras. Tami told me about the opportunities af their fall. I f Tami had proper shelter and a basic blogger and columnist. Reach her through kath- were of them, anxiousness permeating the room forded her in prison. “In here I have a bed and education, would she have turned to crime? If rynmartini.com. was it,” she explained. “I ended up here.” For many o f the women in my class, the ¥ H WOMAN OWNED AND OPERATED! 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