December 26,1990 -T h e Portland O b s e rv e r- Page 3
•Portland Observer
by Mattie Ann Callier-Spears
RELIGION
Hoping for a Chance to
be Somebody
Former Prison Inmate Finds Life
Outside Prison
Just As Bad As Insidc-Sometimes
Worse!
At the age o f 41, Patricia Anne Ford
believes she is finally getting her life to
gether. In and out o f prison since 1976,
Pat (as she prefers to be called) claims
she has m ade the unfortunate decision to
temporarily d isa sso c ia te herself from
family and friends while she reorganizes
her priorities. “ I love my fam ily and I
w ant to remain friends with some o f my
associates. But right now, I m ust get my
ow n life together and a secluded envi
ronm ent appears to be my best option.”
If these are strong words from a
family member, one needs only to listen
to her reasoning to understand why.
Born in Portland to a single parent
household, Pat was introduced early in
life to the responsibilities o f helping her
m other to maintain a family intact.
Her mother married when she was
eight months old and gave birth to four
other children (a girl and three boys).The
once blissful marriage between her par
ents terminated when she was eight years
old, and her m other laboring under the
strain of a broken marriage and caring
for a bom handicapped, entered a life of
alcoholism . Thus the burden o f caring
for three brothers was thrusted upon Pat
at the “ ripe old ag e” of eight years.
“ 1 did the cooking, the cleaning, the
babysitting, the washing o f clothes, you
name it and I did it” , she claim s. ‘ ‘ If ever
a family was earm arked for disintegra
tion, it was mine. But som ehow , with the
help o f the good Lord and strong family
ties, we made it.”
Pal attended Boise grade school but
graduated from Highland. She later at
tended Jefferson High school but admits
that the only goal she had was to get out
o f school. ‘ ‘ In high school, I began sm ok
ing ‘w eed’ as a sophomore. A fter the
‘w eed’, cam e Robitussen, and eventu
ally, a variety o f drugs. I rem em ber at
graduation from high school o f the gradu
ating class was high on som ething” , she
claims.
A fter school, she worked at a vari
ety of jobs, eventually ending up at chan
nel 2 as a receptionist. O ne day a visit by
a cousin from Los Angeles, California
was enough to convince her that the land
of sunshine was the place for her and off
she went, quitting her jo b w ithout notice
and m oving to the city o f “ glam our.”
United Methodist
News
Shortly after her arrival, she received a leased, 1 put these newly acquired skills
call from her mother who informed her to work-m ostly to support my family
that she had been accepted by the Job and drug habit.”
According to Pat, prison tim e was
Corps Program.
your
own. If you wanted to get involved
W hile in Job Corps, she enrolled in
in
activities,
it was available, if not, you
a beauticians course but developed asthma
could
sleep
your
entire sentence away,
due to an allergy to the chem icals. She
“
you
are
out
o
f
your
room from 6am
dropped out after 1 1/2 years and re
until
1
1pm,
except
for
the
4:30pm head
turned to Portland, working on various
count.
You
could
go
virtually
anyw here
jobs. Eventually, she becam e a “ mule,
within
the
walls
that
you
w
anted
to ,’ ’ she
or drug runner for dealers.
claims.
Eventually, she enrolled in classes
to finish some college courses, was as
signed to work release and worked for
the parole board in Salem. She speaks
kindly o f form er em ployees Hazel Hayes
and Erma Hepburn, w hom she credits
with helping her to make a very positive
adjustm ent w hile in prison. She speaks
unkindly about som e prison officials
whom she claim s som etim es treats in
mates like sub-humans.
“ As a drug runner, you become
involved in everything,” Pat claims. “ I
was running drugs, selling drugs, and
using drugs. A fter a while, I becam e my
very best customer. And since my prod
uct was heroin, I was soon in a life o f
deprivation. W hen my supply was short
or out, I began “ boosting” and forging
checks to support my habit. By this
time, I was in and out o f jail on various
charges and som e how, always appeared
before the same judge, who, showing
com passion and leniency, always let me
off on probation. Finally, in 1979, after
years o f stealing and drug use, I stood
before the same judge who denounced
me for trying to destroy my life, losing
the respect o f family and friends, and
betraying his trust in my prom ises for
rehabilitation. He sentenced me to the
Oregon W om en’s Correctional Institute
for forgery and burglary and told me to
get my life together. Perhaps, if he had
sent me to jail on my first or second ap
pearance before him, my life as a law
breaker would have been considerably
short.”
Pat claim s that it was in prison that
she learned how to use her talents as
check forger “ go for the big dollar’ ’. “ I
was forging small checks individual
personal accounts. But male inmates
taught me how to use my skills to forge
corporate payroll checks,a and others
for larger amounts. Everytim e I was re
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She rem em bers with sorrow one
friend who died o f brain dam age because
prison officials thought she was high on
drugs.
She blam es the system for showing
a lack o f concern for inm ates who upon
release are * ‘shown the gate” -many with
no way o f getting home.
She recalls all too vividly her last
trip to prison and getting on her knees
and asking G od for the help she could not
get in prison. Help to rid her body o f the
drug habit-to be accepted by her family
once again-the strength to provide love
and security for her teenage son. Pat
credits God with answ ering her prayers
and cites as proof her going direct from
prison after com pleting her last sentence
to a residence w here she is safe from
drugs, alcohol, and a life o f crime.
She is extrem ely proud o f her son, a
Jefferson High School honor student who
will be going to college on scholarship to
secure his degree in engineering.
She is ever grateful to her mother,
who is spite o f many past adversities has
rem ained loyal and supportive.
Now active in the church, many
volunteer activities, helping recovering
alcoholics, drug addicts, and former
inm ates, she is thankful to G od for an
swering her prayers and giving her an
other chance to be somebody.
Changes in U.S. regulations to
eliminate higher education scholarships
based on race would “ undermine years
of work and com m itm ent to the em pow
erment o f racial ethnic persons thiough
higher education, * ‘ die top United M eth
odist education official said Dec. 14
here.
The Rev. Roger W. Ireson, chief
stall executive of the nom ination's board
of Higher Education and M u i. .u y, mad.
the statem ent after a governm ent an
nouncemcnt that such scholarships arc
discriminatory and would be prohibited.
The decision, announced Dec. 12 by
Michael L. W illiams, an assistant secre
tary for civil rights in the U.S. D epart
ment of Education, touched off a firestorm
of protest from education and civil rights
leaders. After a week of high-level dis
cussions reaching to the W hite House,
the final decision remained uncertain.
Dr. Ireson .aid the Bush administration
“ seems to have acted in a way that
further limits opportunity...to those who
have been underserved in the past.” The
Rev. Thom White W olf Fasselt, Board
of Church and Society general secre
tary, called the policy “ racist” and “ i .
gressivc” and said it makes a “ m ock
ery” of the 1964 Civil Rights A ct.”
Richard Rosser, formerly president of
United M ethodist-related DePauw Uni
versity, Greencastle, Ind., and n< <■. presi
dent of the National A ssociation of In
dependent Colleges and Universities,
said “ a number of attorneys belies
(Mr. W illiams) to be on thin ice with I
legal interpretation.”
A campaip.. lor a national “ Bill
o f Right-, i or Emplu) ces’ ’ was launched
Dec. 18 by the American Civil Liberties
Union with endorsem ent by a United
M ethodist specialist in economic ju s
tice.
Ira Glasser, executive director
l the ACLU, told a news conference
die “ lack ol civil liberties in the A m eri
can work place” is a “ national scan
d al.” The Rev. G eorge E. Ogle, a pro
gram director on the United M ethodist
Boaid of Church and Society, said rights
of workers have been supported for
decades in statements by the denom ina
tion and predecessor bodies.
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A New Church is Planted
In the City of Vancouver,
Washington
Rev. Roderick C Lightner
Pastor
Schedule of Services:
Sunday School
Morning Worship
Evening Worship
9:45 A.M.
11:00 A.M
6:00 P.M.
Weekly Bible Study to be Announced
THE LIFE STREAM FULL GOSPEL CHURCH
First Opening Service Will Be Held
Sunday January 6,1991
11:00 A.M.
" A Loving Church with a Caring Ministry"
SmW Mv j .
Our Temporary Location Will Be At The
re AT d THE
uon
inn
QUAY
100 Columbia Street, Vancouver, Washington 98660
St. Paul Missionary
Baptist Church
Church Phone: (503) 281-5650
8101 N. Fiske Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97203
Jesus Loves You/
Church Phone: 289-0147
Study Phone: 289-1911
Sunday Service
10:45
Sunday School
9:30
Bible Study
6:00
E vening Service
7:00 P.M.
N of I-5 Bridge on left
Allan Lfeoajjpüä OSE Ginirch
Psalm 34:3
ft
4236 NE Eighth Avenue
(comer of 8th ft Skidmore)
Portland, Oregon 97211
(503) 287-0261
Phillip S. Nelson, Pastor
Pastor, Rev. James C.E. Faulkner
M
H
Theme: Whatever you’re going
to do for the Lord, do it now.
T
C
J
H
n
Q
' t i r
-
s i ' t h
c
r i
x ‘ I i
I PETER i v . l l
4 2 2 2 N.E. 1 2 th A v en u e P ortlan d O regon
MT OLIVET BAPTIST
CHURCH
)
(PsaCms 23
In The Gull’s Nest Room
For your everchanging lifestyles
• Naomi Sims • Bornfree
• Michael Weeks
Scripture o f the ‘Weet
WE ARE MOVING
SUNDAY SERVICES
TO
Stone Tower Church,
N.E. Sandy Blvd. & 3Oth
Worship Services 8:00 A.M. & 11:00 A.M.
Church School 9:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M.
Bible Study. Wednesdays. 116 N.E.Schuyler
10:30 A.M. and 6:30 P.M.
We are interested in your problems
Radio Ministry each Sunday. 8:00 A.M.-KBMS
Place your advertisement in the
Portland Observer
,
Office# (503) 288-0033
Fax# (503) 288-0015
A Teaching Church With A Reaching Ministry
Dr. James E. Martin, Senior Pastor
Church Office 116 N.E. Schuyler,
SUNDAY SERVICES
Sunday School
9 :0 0 A.M .
Morning Worship
10:30 A.M.
Maranatho School of Ministry
6 :3 0 P.M.
Mid Week Service
Wednesday
7 :3 0 P.M.
M A R A N A T H A
Rev Wendell H Watace
Senior Pastor
C H U R C H
Public Service Announcement
A Christm as V esper Service under
the auspices o f the Cathedral choir will
be held at Bethel A.M .E. Church, 5828
N.E. 8th Ave., Pordand, on Sunday,
D ecember 30, 1990 at 6:00 p.m. The
program will include Christmas music
selected by Mrs. Rochelle M cElroy, d i
rector, and a candle lighting service. A
free will offering will be taken. R efresh
m ents will be provided at the conclusion
o f the program . The public is invited.
Rev. M ilton G reen, Pastor.