Making a Difference Right Where You Are

I'm not one who likes to shovel snow, but apparently there are plenty of people who do--even in prison. Inside prison, wide sidewalks lead from building to building, and each path is lined with signs telling prison inmates that stepping off the walk is out of bounds. Some prisoners have yard crew jobs--they mow lawns in the summer and shovel snow in the winter. But, the number of yard crew workers is not enough to keep the entire prison compound shoveled, especially when every housing unit has a small yard of its own, complete with a small track and sidewalks along the unit. 

When the snow falls heavily, I am often surprised to see people from my unit (and others) volunteer to go outside and shovel, as early as 6AM. It is certainly good exercise, and obviously some people don't mind the cold--I'm certainly grateful for their labor. Not a lot of prisoners like to work, so it's refreshing when I see prisoners volunteer for tasks they are not responsible for. Too often, I'm frustrated when I see that another prisoner hasn't bothered to clean up after himself in the bathroom, or at the microwaves. It's easy to think that everyone in prison is lazy, but that's simply not the case. 

Recently, at a Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI) convocation, at the start of our most recent semester of college classes, the Warden recognized the volunteer hours of CPI students. We are certainly not the only prisoners who volunteer in ways that give back to our own community, but as Warden Burton noted, in 2017 CPI students volunteered over 1,800 hours of their own time to help other prisoners--facilitating and tutoring math and algebra, study skills, and moral formation classes, and preparing other prisoners for job interviews in the employment workshop. Every prison has a different "vibe," but at Handlon Correctional Facility, there is a hunger for education designed to prepare prisoners for success upon release from prison. We are fortunate to have a warden who supports educational efforts and who recognizes the value that peer-led education has on these efforts.

I found great satisfaction seeing one of our employment workshop students recently highlighted by Governor Rick Snyder in his State of the State address. This Vocational Village student, recently released from prison, is doing so well that it caught the attention of Michigan's governor. This is our reward for volunteering--seeing fellow prisoners succeed upon release from prison. We can't have such success with every student, but if even one of these student prisoners does well upon release, that's one fewer victim, one safer community, one healthier family. 

You're not likely to see me volunteering to shovel snow, but it is the work of those who do volunteer that makes it possible for me (and others) to give back in other ways. We all have an opportunity to do our part, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, to make a difference right where we are. How are you making a difference in your community?