Greetings everyone! I wanted to share that I have changed prisons again. Good and bad. Good because I am once again in a cell which I thought I hated. Bad because it was a step backward rather than forward. I am now at Lorain Correctional. It’s an intake prison. Most of the residents come here to await a bed at their parent prison, so they are only here for 30 to 90 days. I signed up to be a mentor in the mentor program so I am here to be a mentor. My new address is:
Lorain Correctional Institution
2075 South Avon-Belden Road
Grafton, Ohio 44044
I know I need to be good even in my frustrations, but it is so hard. Even Death Row didn't suck the energy out of me like this place does. For the most part I am fine. I chose to mentor younger prisoners rather than come here and find it easy, The only real benefit for me is to my spirit--maybe getting to change or redirect one of these guys to a better path. And it is working well—somewhat. Some of these guys are so stuck in their need to be hard f—and all for show. They don't see any other way to be. But they are starting to listen now that they have got to hear my whole story. They are in awe that I’ve been in prison 33 years more because of my demeanor than anything else. To them I should be the most angry man in the world,
But they don’t see it. What they see in me makes them confused—and because they are confused that they don’t see what they think they should see, they open the door for me to tell them there is another way.
Most listen but how far they go with the slow of life will be another story. And then the time I get to spend with them—the time we get to spend together is short. The prisoners I mentor come and go everyday. The are out in 60 to 90 days.
So my class with them now is Money Matters. Its purpose is to show them how to fill out checks and such--a basic survival guide to money management. I teach them the difference between a saving account and a checking account and how to save. Do they care about that? No.
I’m dealing with kids who deal drugs, and murder other kids. So I try to put a twist on how they failed with all this so-called money they made dealing drugs, the things it lead to that brought them here. I’m working with guys who claim to have made $50 grand—yet they are around here begging for 22 cent soups so they don’t go hungry. But I hold their attention. And the word is out and now everybody wants to be in Mr. Tyler's class.
Once they hear my story, they actually listen to me. I tell them how to save money, and I talk about the importance of doing something with their money such as getting a job rather than joining the ranks of other failed drug dealers, It makes sense to them. But what they will do with it, I don’t know.
I get the feeling that we mentors aren't wanted here. The mentoring program was set up to make money for the prison. It was/is a good idea, but it’s not going as well as it could. I really wouldn't put it past them to shut it down.
On the other hand, it’s a little hard here, But I didn't come here for me, I came here to give what I can—and this is the place that could give me that chance. This could be their last step on this journey. I would be happy to save one. But I am learning my depths here. I needed this place—as bad as it is—because now I see how bad it is: Our kids are becoming a steady stream into this prison system.
I see now what my focus will be once I am home. And speaking on the subject of my coming home, I don't yet know when the lawyers will file for me to go before the parole board again. Probably they’ll file after it’s known if Trump will choose our governor as his running mate—so somewhere around the end of July, hopefully. They don't want to rush it, and neither do I. If I can see Christmas at home I will be happy with that...It’s time for this to end.
So all in all I am fine, my record is still clean. It’s just a little harder here but I can make the adjustment. And that's what the parole board wants. So I will be fine...Til next time I bid you goodbye...Peace... Arthur
