CORRECTIONAL CENTER FOR WOMEN

 
 
 
 

Correctional Center for Women, also known as CCW or Elmwood Women's, houses approximately 500 women in minimum, medium and maximum security units. Volunteers and incarcerated women share various spiritual practices including meditation, volunteer led Christian worship, Muslim prayers and more. Staff and volunteers also lead small group studies for all faiths, teach yoga classes and providing counseling women one to one.

 

"People said, 'Oh it’s just jailhouse religion, it won’t stick', but for me it did, even though it wasn’t always easy. I had to work hard, and joining a church when I got out was really important. The church was warm and welcomed me and my kids, even though I still looked tough and off the streets. Having churches that welcome and love whoever comes in the doors is so important. It changed my life.

Read more from an interview with Sonia, a CCW volunteer

 

Stories from Inside CCW

This poem is written by “T”, a young woman at CCW (women’s jail) at one of our writing groups. It expresses her journey of where she has come "from" and where she is hoping to journey "to". The “I am from…” that she describes at the beginning becomes what she is moving towards in her declarations of “I am to…” It’s a story of slow, gentle, transformation and redemption.

- Chaplain Liz Milner

I am from cigarette burns made by my own parents

I am from abusive adults and foster homes

I am from a crack addict leaving me with strangers just to get a hit

I am from the weeping willow tree that i thought could hide me and keep me safe

I am from drunken fights ducking from flying beer bottles and being left to take care of my baby sister

I am from the land of pretend where we always pretended we were ok and everyone lived just like us

I am from spilled cartons of milk and burnt pots of anyone’s guess is as good as mine

I am from hiding under beds so sure no one would be able to find me

I am from so much hurt and pain never knowing there could be something better

but that’s not the end of my story . . .

I am to the deepest love I’ve ever known

I am to a beautiful daughter who calls me her best friend

I am to becoming a wife, mother and grandmother

Poem by “T”