November 28, 2018
Page 5
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PhoTo CourTesy o regon d ePT . of C orreCTions
Tammy Kennedy, a Portland Community College leader, removes a tattoo from an inmate at the
Coffee Creek Correction Facility in a life-changing program to help women start anew as they transi-
tion towards becoming members of the community.
Tattoo Removals Empower Change
PCC leader helps
turn lives around
Tattoos can be reminders of the past and a life-
style that is best left behind. For the women housed
at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility they have the
opportunity to start anew as they transition towards
becoming members of our community.
In March of this year, the Department of Correc-
tions, in partnership with Portland Community Col-
lege, began a tattoo removal program at the wom-
en’s prison in Wilsonville.
Tammy Kennedy, a PCC leader who contracts
with the institution, runs this potentially life-chang-
ing initiative along with Coffee Creek’s hair design
program. Kennedy has a certificate in Advanced Es-
thetics, which she pursued in part, to bring addition-
al treatment, skills, training and certification options
to the incarcerated women.
As she operates the tattoo removal laser she says,
“Many of these women come to our facilities with
anti-social tattoos. Whether they are gang, drug or
domestic abuse related tattoos, helping them remove
that part of their past is rewarding work. Many of
these tattoos were directly related to what brought
them here. What they once thought was permanent
can now be a thing of the past.”
One incarcerated woman wrote about her tat-
too removal experience, “For 22 years, I’ve had a
shackle around my ankle, the permanent brand of a
past abusive relationship that I’ve had to be remind-
ed of every day as I put on my shoes. The tattoo
removal program that you brought to Coffee Creek
is changing that.”
To date, 362 people have been treated and ap-
proximately 750 tattoos have been, or are in the pro-
cess of, being removed. The longer term objective
is to bring tattoo removal to the men incarcerated,
as well.