The history of Brown Card Volunteers is murky at best, but their contributions to us are most palpable.
In a recent interview with Marin Literacy’s educators Sue, Carolyn and Nan of PROJECT REACH, I was afforded a unique perspective into thoughts and wishes of these most capable academic professionals. When asked what, if any, obstacles they may have faced in the course of performing their duties, I was told that “obstacles were minimal, the officers staffed in the education department were most accommodating.”
These women expressed a desire to assist inmates in their transition back into society with the suitable skills necessary for job placement, social integration, and the elevation of personal esteem.
Nan informed me that the effects of recent economic issues have had negligible impact on the program, being that resources came from Marin Literacy. Also, that barring some emergency, they make every effort to attend all scheduled classes. Nan enjoys spending time.helping others and she learns as her students learn.
Once one of her students told her that his main motivation in enrolling in the program was a promise his son made to him, and that was that if he (the inmate) got his GED that he (the son) would make positive changes in his own life. Afterward, Carolyn said that shows that changing lives inside affects those outside.
When I spoke with Sue she was eager to convey her passion for helping others saying “I like to extend my teaching experiences to the benefit of those in need.”
In addition to other duties these volunteers must undergo annual training regarding institutional concerns such as safety, contact with inmates and other staff responsibilities.
We may well wonder what it is that compels someone to give selflessly her or his time and patience for the benefit of others. Sympathetic consciousness of other’s distress together with a desire to alleviate it would be an apt description.
These women, among other men and women, have taken the mere idea of rehabilitation from abstraction to reality here at San Quentin.
