STORIES

SAM

“My first memory is being raped at age 5... By the age of 13, I had enough. I stole a car and headed north. ...I have been in prison for 35 years.

Today, I’m freer than I have ever been.”

MISTI

I was 20 years old when I was arrested. It was June 20, 1997. I was sentenced to life in prison, without parole.

Although I wasn’t the shooter, and although I wasn’t present when the crime occurred, I was just as guilty as the shooters...

ANDREA

"I spent three weeks at Alachua County Jail. There is no one I can blame for being there but myself.

The first couple days I was there all I did was cry..."

JENNIFER

Jennifer was 18 and pregnant when she landed in the Alachua County Jail. It’s difficult to imagine how she could have wound up in such a place. ... a sweet, simple Southern girl.

Women often send hand-written letters spilling out their life stories and heartache.

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Nicole's Experience

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE A PRISONER?

"Prison was hell. A place of constant torment. A community of evil. Behind bars nothing felt safe.

It was impossible to sleep well in prison. I slept on a creaky bunk cot in a row just arms distance from those who committed crimes of extortion, had been trafficked or were traffickers. I slept next to drug dealers, murderers, thieves, abusers and those engaging nightly in homosexual relationships feet away. Sure, a few had been incarcerated wrongly but most were guilty. We were enduring our punishments."