Any DUers have prisoner pen pals?

[bixente]

Last month I began writing to prisoners seeking pen pals, in Oregon, Cali and Georgia. One of them currently resides in Death Row - I've only heard back from one of them, a young woman who was charged with identity theft and burglary... the other two were charged with murder. When I told my friends about this venture, they reacted with disbelief, well, some of them... couldn't believe I'd write to these people. When asking why I was doing it, often I'd just tell them 'I'm curious'... curious to find out what these people are like and what life is like for them behind bars. Also I live in Australia so I'm not scared of them tracking me down and killing me. :p

I love the fact that I'm making some kind of difference in these people's lives... because for such a long time they're separated from the people they used to know, and their lives can get rather lonely, and I know you can say "why do you want to help people who've committed crimes like these" but you know, the site I went to, write a prisoner.com said that writing to these prisoners can help with their rehabilitation back into society... and it's so exciting just thinking about that moment when their names get read out during mail call as that's one of the things that really keeps them going.

[newcriminal]

1. Good for you.

[Skittles]

2. only when they have been relatives / friends of friends

writing letters / postcards is second nature to me because I grew up as a GI brat

[Aristus]

3. When I was in the Gulf in 1991, I got a 'Dear Any Soldier' letter.

One of those "thank you for protecting our freedoms" things. (From someone in prison, I found that rather odd...)

I wrote back to her, and it turned out she was in prison for check fraud. We corresponded for a while. Then we fell out of touch. I found out years later she had died not long after sending her final letter.

[In_The_Wind]

4. You must have made her days a bit better for a while.

[Aristus]

5. It helped me, too.

It was nice to get letters during a long spell in the field. A month of being cold and wet, eating field rations, can go by quicker when you have letters to read.

[NobodyHere]

6. I applaud you sir/maam

I was somewhat recently a prisoner myself. A pen-pal can make all the difference in the world in how a prisoner thinks and what a prisoner values. I had a person to write to myself and I appreciate her more than anyone else on this planet (except my parents).