I have worked with the Correctional Association since 1988. I have and do work with battered/formerly battered individuals, primarily women. Also, I work with battered/formerly battered women who are and have been imprisoned. The Correctional Association has been more than helpful, sharing their expertise and actually acting on circumstances of concern to women who are imprisoned without a voice. Through their Coalition for Women Prisoners, they have brought the voices of those who would be silenced out from behind the prison walls. This is no easy task. The walls of the prisons are thick not only to keep prisoners in, but to keep those out who would advocate for their rights out. The Correctional Association has for many years gone into prisons and exposed what happens behind those walls and brought that information out into the open. This is why I think the Correctional Association does excellent work and deserves to be appreciated and publicly recognized for their work.

I worked with Lenore Rosenbaum at the Westchester County Jail. Lenore and I facilitated a program called Fresh Start. We went into the jail weekly and worked with the women. Fresh Start was a series of sessions working with women to find ways to change the behavior that led them to prison. At the end of the series, the women in the program were matched with trained volunteer mentors. This relationship lasted approximately one year. Both mentors and mentees learned much from one another. It was a very rewarding program for all who participated.