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Horizon
Participants' Reflections
Letters from Marion Correctional Horizon
Participants 2007
Before I came I couldn’t love and I
couldn’t forgive. When I came to MCI, and got in Horizon, I
learned about myself and about God. I learned about Islam
and about Judaism. I learned how to be responsible. I
learned how to forgive in this program. I learned how to be
a son, father and husband. I learned to be a man. No
matter where you are or who you are, we can come to love
each other if we have an open heart and open mind.
- Curtis, Horizon grad, Marion
Correctional in Ohio, 2007
All of the men who come through this
program have their own struggles. Whether it’s hostility,
immorality, addiction or accountability, we all have our own
demons. Some come to the surface, others are hidden more
deeply. But for each, the opportunity is present to address
these demons head-on in an attempt to overcome them, and
become a better person, for our families, our communities,
and for ourselves. I would recommend the Horizon Program to
anyone serving time that does not ever want to pass this way
again.
- Dennis L., Horizon participant at
Marion Correctional in Ohio, 2007
I walked a solitary path. I was what
they call a “stand up con.” I lived by the code:. Don’t
bother anyone. Whatever you see, you forget. I took a
shank to my side once, I just put duct tape over it with
some antibiotic cream. I never said anything; a
“stand-up con.” After many years it’s tough to adjust
to a new way of life, but Horizon taught me how to embrace a
community mindset.
- Bill, serving a life sentence,
Horizon participant at Marion Correctional in Ohio, 2007
Letter from Tomoka C.I. Horizon
Participant, October 2007
“The things I learned in Horizon are invaluable –
leadership, consensus building, and my own personal
frailties that cannot be taught (or learned) in a classroom
setting. The level of maturity, both spiritual and personal,
I received in that short period of time is astounding... The
Horizon experience will be responsible for any good I am
able to accomplish in my life. The man I am now, and what I
will become, can be greatly attributed to my experience
there.”
Horizon at the Allred Unit in
Texas, Graduation, December 2006:
My heart was
broken many times as a child, but even though it healed as I
grew up in foster care, it never healed right. Like a
skillful bone surgeon, Horizon broke my heart one more time,
enabling the loving presence of volunteers to knit it back
together and heal it completely.
Horizon has put my
family back together again. I had once been a good uncle…
but my two nieces stopped writing and having any contact
with me over 5 years before he went to prison, and that was
over 9 years ago. I had given his life to cocaine and they
saw my irresponsible behavior. In the Horizon program I
wrote them, and they listened to what I had to say… saw a
new me, being responsible. They are trying to help me, and
one of my brothers has also written.
Letter from Tomoka Horizon participant:
It's been 12 years
since I've been 'free', and never in my entire DOC
experience have I been in a context that encourages growth
like this. I've been swimming against the current all this
time to better myself, and suddenly, it's as though the
current has changed directions... The Godparent program is
beyond words as well.
Comments at Graduation Tomoka C.I., Florida:
It was the hardest
course I've ever had in my life - and I'm a college grad.
This program is
FACE-BASED; you have to face up to reality.
Before I came into this
program, I was meaner than a junk-yard dog.
Horizon Inter-faith, Ohio:
When I came into prison, I had no family
relationships there for a long time. When I came into the
Horizon program, God brought my family together. This close
relationship has had an impact on me. It affected me in a
way that I know God is real, bringing us all together.
Horizon Inter-faith, Davis Correctional, Holdenville, OK:
Four years ago, my
oldest daughter had stopped writing. She now writes
regularly. My youngest daughter had not ever written, but
since I have been in Horizon, she now writes as well.
From Horizon at Davis C.F. in
Holdenville, Oklahoma:
Reflections on Horizon's Family Day and Graduation, June
2007, when almost 250 family members, volunteers, prison
officials and members of the Interfaith Council and the
Oklahoma Board of Corrections came to honor the 52 program
graduates:
The intensity of work in the Horizon year is capped with
this special day – special because it feels like a day free
from prison… you can see that freedom on their faces. For
some it is a day when healing takes place between some of
the inmates and their loved ones. When there is healing in a
family, there is change in that family, and that is what
Horizon is all about, people changing their lives. - Anthony
Family Day is a day for mending fences with loved ones. When
we come to prison our families suffer for the mistakes we
made. Children lose fathers. Parents lose sons, and wives
lose husbands. Family Day is a day for discovering the joys
of bonding in an atmosphere more like a wonderful family
outing at a park or a family re-union. In truth, that is
what it is, a family re-union. In Horizon, you go through a
lot of changes mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So a
new person IS being united with a lost family.
My children were babies when I committed my crime, and I’ve
never had a chance to sit in the grass and watch my daughter
play with a doll or play catch with my nephew. For a lot of
men Family Day is a time to see how much they are missing
out on when they are always in and out of trouble. I
realized how fun and enjoyable being with my family can be
without being high or drunk. – Shane
From the Horizon Interfaith
Community at The Allred Unit near Wichita Falls, Texas:
Since my acceptance into the Horizon Program, I have learned
many life skills, but more importantly, I have learned that
“family” does not have to be biological. I have been shown
first hand that I have brothers in this prison, and that
ethnic walls can be torn down. I have been shown support and
love from my brothers in Christ which seems to go deeper
than what I receive from my biological family. I pray
earnestly for a chance to share with others the blessings
and lessons the Holy Spirit and Our Lord have shown me
throughout my time in the Horizon program.
My son has started writing me for the first time in years. I
have a better outlook on life than I did before this
program. All of my old friends have started writing I think
because they see a new person in me. I thank God for this
program.
After 9½ years of incarceration , I’ve been praying
diligently for restoration with healing for the victim of my
crime. On May 10, I received the first letter from my
victim, expressing anger, hurt and betrayal. She promised
herself she would never forgive me, or even speak to me
again. But, even though her letter expressed such anger, I
was overwhelmed with a sense that my prayers are being
answered somehow. I do understand that healing will be a
long process like forgiveness, but it will come. God opened
the door for healing and forgiveness for us all and it will
come in His due season.
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