I’m at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF), an institution in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS), participating in the Earned Release Program (ERP). Thursday started off with high hopes that the day would end with me being a free man, sleeping in a bed of my own after having eaten real food. As you may have guessed, it didn’t happen. Nothing of significance happened again until the afternoon, when our ERP social worker Ms. Grey dropped by. She told Dean Stark he was being picked up tomorrow (Friday). No word for me or anybody else though. I asked her about the email she said she had sent to my parole officer (PO), Helen Gaither and she needed to be prompted until she remembered. She didn’t answer whether or not the email had been answered just saying that “my paperwork is not back yet!” She just isn’t very forthcoming with information, almost as she seems to enjoy seeing us squirm while waiting for information. But that wasn’t all the bad news. The blog sponsor who is to pick me up at the bus station will be unable to pick me up this coming Monday due to work requirements. As much as I don’t want anything to delay my departure I asked my sponsor to contact my PO and let Ms. Gaither know I wouldn’t have a ride on Monday. I also asked to find out if Ms. Gaither got the email from Ms. Grey. My confidence in Ms. Grey continued to be shaken as she handed out a piece of paper wanting to know what the address we were going to be released to was. It seems no one could be released without that information in the system. I had asked about this last week but she indicated she didn’t know how MSDF would get this info. But this should have been done weeks ago. Since today was Thursday, it was Community Meeting day. Though we have graduated, we are still required to attend though none of us participated. They were breaking in a new meeting leader so it was a bit chaotic. One thing of interest was they are changing the ERP program schedule. Now starting at 8 am groups will start and somehow all the groups will spend at least an hour a day in the smelly rec room that our group has used for a group room for the last 6 months. That was quite interesting to my group. But all of this uncertainty with release has me in a foul mood. I think its anxiety finding its voice or crankiness. I try to keep reminding myself that its almost over and that they have to let me go at some point. It’s just not easy to do.
Posts Tagged ‘info’
Release Isn’t Imminent
Posted: January 11, 2012 in UncategorizedTags: confidence, Dean, departure, Detention, didn, food, Gaither, Grey, Helen, hour, Imminent, info, Information, Institution, leader, Milwaukee, mood, MSDF, news, officer, paper, paperwork, Prison, Program, Release, requirements, room, Secure, significance, Stark, System, Though, Wisconsin, worker
No Particular Place To Go
Posted: February 24, 2011 in UncategorizedTags: addition, announcement, article, Brett, cells, comments, coordinator, Correctional, crimes, custom, deception, denial, depth, Detention, direction, disorganization, failure, Favre, felon, Frank, Fridays, girlfriend, gratification, Grey, homework, info, inmates, Institution, interstate, lady, Larry, letter, life, Lucy, member, Milwaukee, MSDF, Narcissistic, news, paperwork, Particular, person, Place, prayers, Prison, procedures, Program, Racine, recovery, Release, room, Secure, self, situation, skit, System, therapist, Throughout, Vicodin, Whalen, Wisconsin, word, world
I’m at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF), an institution in the Wisconsin Prison System (WPS), participating in the Earned Release Program (ERP). Our ERP group coordinator, Betty Grey is really struggling. We didn’t see her at all yesterday and today she pulled us together in that same dimly lit exercise room. She was clearly frustrated with the situation. Having come from Racine Correctional Institution (RCI), I’m sure she was far more supported than she is here. Questions inmates in the group had that are especially centered around visitation with the holiday coming up, questions regarding interstate compacts (which permit inmates to move across state lines) and other MSDF procedures. Ms. Grey just had no answer. Larry Sands, a group member, suggested we ask the other group coordinators those questions which made Ms. Grey uncomfortable. Throughout the rest of the day she handed out paperwork that we should have been given at the time homework was given that gave us direction on how to do it. It was just a sense of general disorganization, something someone new in a job might very well have. I feel bad for her to be honest. We had our community meeting today, my first while in the ERP program. The phrase today was “Always do what you are afraid to do” and the word today was “grim” as in “No man ever understands his own artful dodges to escape the grim shadow of reality” talking about how we practice denial and don’t even see the depth of our own self deception. Then a skit was done about how we pursue the easier short sighted self gratification instead of working for a better future. We provided comments on each as they occurred. Then one man stood up with the news article for the week and it focused on Brett Favre’s streak ending. He tied it to what we’re doing here by saying Favre was in recovery and accomplished his streak while in recovery from his Vicodin addition. The only problem is Favre is not in “recovery” at least not in the traditional sense. But nothing was said. The announcement was made we wouldn’t have this meeting the next 2 Fridays because of the holidays. My cellie, Frank Whalen, then stood up to read something but the coordinator told him not to which was odd. The meeting broke and we all went to clean our cells as is the custom on Fridays. Whalen came and got me and asked me to read what he had. HIs girlfriend, a 60 year old therapist (he’s 44) had written him an amazing letter describing him as a Narcissistic but that he was an awesome, terrific person to her. Turns out he hadn’t even read it and he was going to read it to the whole group. I told him this was a bad idea as she went into detail on his failure and sex life and I felt that some inmates would use that info to torture him. Whalen asked me what was in it and I told him his girlfriend loved him very much but had some things to tell him and he should sit down by himself to read it. I was envious of him for a minute, having such a lady who stood by him despite his crimes. But I was happy he’s not alone in this world. I got a letter saying Lucy had changed her mind and decided I couldn’t stay there when I get out due to personal reasons. It’s her right to change her mind and I can’t really blame her. I’m a felon and a burden at this point. Of course, I’d already turned in my paperwork on this so I don’t know what will happen. I’ve got 23 weeks to go but Ms. Grey wants to know now to do her job. I appreciate your prayers and I’ll keep working on this.