![]() ![]() ![]() To shine a light into the darkness and to educate people about our wretched system.ĭavid and I renewed our wedding vows on the anniversary of our wedding in Acapulco so long ago. To humanize the women I met and see them through my eyes. I published my memoir of my prison journey, The Slumber Party From Hell, and started speaking to a myriad of audiences, including Ignite and TEDx, with the goal of bringing the audience into my prison cell to hear my voice and share my emotions. We got a lot of help to cut though the intimidating legalese of that hefty application process and I breathed a sigh of relief when that approval arrived. One of the most significant achievements was getting approval for our 501(c)3. Putting this together was like juggling cats into a marching band, but somehow we had a marching band of very cool cats. Volunteers showed up to start creative writing classes and civics classes as well as a Welcome Back program. We partnered with ASU to begin an internship program and became a community partner with the ASU Art Museum for “It’s Not Just Black & White” about prison reform. We started a monthly Speaker Series for the juvenile girls at Mingus Mountain Academy and helped amass over 2,000 books to begin their library. Cecil Ash (now a judge), and Olympic Gold Medalist Misty Hyman. The Speaker Series included outstanding leaders like Rep. This lead to the GAT (Gina’s ATHENA Team) Leadership Class three times a year and a monthly book club for GAT graduates. In the first two years I co-founded GINA’S Team, established a program at Perryville Prison to begin a bimonthly Speaker Series and find sponsors for the Toastmasters Club. I wanted passionately to impact the world of criminal justice reform and David wanted to support my work. We would never go back to the life we had. I realized that our lives had been changed forever. Actually in this age of media overload, if you think you have a secret, Google is not your friend. There has not been nor will there ever be privacy in my life. Whenever I’ve travelled out of state, I had to ask for a travel permit. We also had to provide a monthly summary of our expenses and our income as well as a copy of our bank statement and a money order to the Clerk of the Court for restitution. At first we had to submit a urinalysis or “pee in a cup” every month even though we weren’t in prison for addiction. What have I being doing since 2009? Well, first I’ve been reporting monthly to a probation officer. TODAY is the day I complete ten years of Probation.
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