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HORIZON COMMUNITIES IN PRISON

P.O. Box 2547, Winter Park, Florida 32790-2547
Phone (407) 657-1828  Fax (407) 629-8660
Email:  office@HorizonCommunities.org

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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.
 

HORIZON COMMUNITIES IN PRISON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2007