I’m currently serving a 15-to-life sentence for attempted murder. I want to start this off by saying that because I’m not the same person who committed that crime. I am a changed man! Part of my transformation is because of the most wonderful people I have ever met in here, many of them in the midst of classes I participated in and facilitated. One of those groups or classes is the Peer Health Education Course. It included learning about STDs, STIs, Hepatitis A, B, C, HIV, AIDS and transmissions regarding how these diseases and viruses are communicable. This class shook me to my core because I could personally identify with everything I was learning. It inspired me to want to do more within the prison community, so I turned in an application to be a facilitator.
I have to tell you a little bit about that. I’ve never been a group speaker. I can speak amongst my peers, but never in a public setting. I was so inspired by what I was learning, I took a leap of faith, and I have never looked back or had one regret. I always heard that if you find something that you enjoy for work, it’s never work. I found something I like and enjoy and it has never been work. Sad to say, since the pandemic, we have lost our facilitator, so if there is anybody within earshot with an interest, I would like to send out a formal request to help us and see what we can do to get our health education class inside San Quentin running again. If you want to volunteer please contact Diane at Humans of San Quentin. We still help each other in here as much as we can without sponsorship, but we need your help. Thank you for the space to share this story. Enclosed is a photo of me circa 2014.
