Making a difference: One woman’s journey from incarceration to employment

When Lisa* was first incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, her 5-year-old daughter was afraid to come visit her. Struggling to convince her that the visitation area was nothing like the scary prisons she saw on TV, Lisa grew afraid, too—afraid that without visits, she would lose her relationship with her daughter. That’s when Hour Children stepped in. The Hour Children advocates sent Lisa’s family brochures with pictures of the visitation area, so Lisa’s daughter could know what to expect. Finally, after several weeks of waiting, Lisa’s daughter came to visit—and kept coming for the duration of Lisa’s sentence.

Over the years she served at Bedford Hills, Hour Children’s involvement in the lives of Lisa and her daughter only grew. Once old enough to visit on her own, Hour Children even sent transportation for Lisa’s daughter to travel to and from her home in Pennsylvania to the prison in upstate New York. Lisa says that to this day, over 15 years later, her daughter still keeps in touch with the advocates that helped her visit her mom. Read more from Amsterdam News.