California Prisoners Raise Money for Victim Group |PRISONS|

Submitted by dan. on 2007-04-30 21:32.
Prison

At California State Prison, Solano, inmates in the Victim Offender Reconciliation Group work to accept responsibility for their crimes. They also raise money for victim groups and victims through sales of such things as chicken and pizza. Sitting Thursday in a circle in the prison's visiting room, inmates told Janet Bryan of Vallejo they were glad to give her a $1,850 check earlier this month to assist her work in Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Some of the 40 inmates also spoke of how Bryan and the self-help group have helped change their lives. Behind bars for such serious offenses as second-degree murder and accessory to murder, VORG members are challenged to face the harm they caused.

They also learn to say "I'm sorry" to victims, and come closer to forgiving themselves, said inmate Eric Brown. He said he found the courage to face the pain of his actions after listening to victim advocates like Bryan, and realizing how much courage it took to speak to them. His self-examination has been therapeutic, he said.

"What's left is that we are very, very sorry for what we've done," Brown said... .

Bryan recalled that at her first VORG meeting nearly two years ago she related how a drunk driver killed her 16-year-old, Raymond Joseph Vallejo. Afterwards, inmate Warren Bailey gave her the amends she never got from the driver by repeatedly telling her how sorry he was that her son died.

After that, she said she began climbing out of a pit of paralyzing grief and despair. "Little by little they've chipped away at me and helped me reach a place not to forgive John (the drunk driver) for killing

Raymond but to learn to live with the pain," she said.

Thursday, Bryan thanked them once more for helping her heal and for the MADD money. The $1,850 from inmates selling KFC dinners to other prisoners will help Bryan stage a June 23 MADD fundraiser on the five-year anniversary of her son's death.

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