Survivor Portrait Experience

In 2009, I was a partner in a Title Company that employed my entire family (father, mother, brothers, niece, husband, best friend, aunt, etc…).  During the mortgage implode in 2009 the company was failing so I took a mortgage out on my house to fund payroll and sustain the business.  I misappropriated the funds by diverting them to my business and not paying off the first mortgage and overstated my income on the mortgage application.  I was paying the mortgage monthly, however my partner in the business who was an attorney was being investigated by the FBI for unrelated mortgage fraud, made a deal by giving me up.  I self-destructed from my need to prove myself, be a care giver, never say no.  I thought my worth was what I gave to people and failure was not an option to me. I immediately took responsibility and accountability.  I plead guilty in 2011 to wire fraud and in 2014 I was sentenced to one year and a day at Danbury Federal Prison Camp for Women.  I self-surrendered on Jan. 5, 2015, to a world that was unlike the world we live in on the outside.  Prison has its own culture, and you need to learn that culture very quickly to survive.  I came home July 22, 2015, to home confinement for 3 months and then 3 years’ probation with a lifetime of restitution and punishment of a felony on my record. 

Yes, through the entire journey.

Family support from my husband and children was the most helpful and then the other women who were alongside me in prison who took care of each other.

I am most proud of my children and husband who stood beside me, never leaving and supporting me.  I am also proud that I took accountability teaching my children that making poor choices has consequences and to be proud after those choices one must take full responsibility for their part in the choices.  I also came home and made a choice to be transparent about my situation.  Prison is a dark place, and I did not want one other woman have to feel alone or isolated while going through the criminal justice system.  I founded Evolution Reentry Services, helping justice impacted women go through their own journey.  We prepare women and their families with support groups and help preparing them for the unknown prison culture.  We attend their sentencings and also drive them to prison supporting them the entire way through.  When They come home there is a huge array of mental health issues that women must face so we help them navigate their new life with dignity and success through authenticity.  My proudest program is our Thursday night support group for families who have loved ones incarcerated.  These families are silent victims, especially the kids and when I first started the group, I was able to see firsthand what I did to my family through the hurt of these families.  I am proud to be able to give them support because they are such collateral damage to a broken criminal justice system.

Freedom…

After being in prison and given the opportunity to start my life over, I have experienced true freedom.  Simple things bring me joy.  Just sitting with my husband watching a movie and eating popcorn or communicating with my children who are not young adults on their own.  I also care for my elderly parents who have been married for 65 years.  Knowing that I have true friends now and although I only have 3, I am truly free.