By Laurie Baron
Among the many things 2020 upended was Freedom Writers. At the beginning of the year, Rhonda Edgington and I were meeting weekly with a circle at Harbor House, an OAR residential rehab house for women, and Elisabeth Bauman and I traveled weekly to the circle at the Allegan County Correctional Center. Along with everything else, both of these in-person programs were shut down in March.
However, we offered to email some prompts to the writing circles, and these were eagerly accepted. So, every week between March and November, we sent a note of greeting and encouragement and three writing exercises or prompts to Sgt. Tim Commissaris at ACCC and Gabby Johnson, director of Harbor House. As you can imagine, the staff at both places were dealing with unprecedented situations and were very busy. Not surprisingly, many weeks could go by with no response other than a perfunctory thank-you. From time to time, I’d wonder if the prompts were even distributed, but the handful of times I asked how it was going or whether we should continue, the word came back that the women looked forward to the prompts and were writing. As much as I believe in the value of what we are doing, I admit I was pretty surprised! So on we went.
During the summer, we received word that we could come in person to Harbor House, and Rhonda and I went one time. I decided that it wasn’t a wise thing for me, given that my age made me more vulnerable and the protocols seemed a bit loose. After communicating with the director about keeping masks in place, etc., Rhonda went the next week and led solo. When she reported no real change in the protocols, it seemed wise to go back to emailing prompts, rather than put her health at risk.
During the fall, Sgt. Commissaris let me know that the last woman in the Re-Entry Program had been released, and so Freedom Writers was suspended at the jail. Sgt. Tim expressed deep appreciation for our continued connection with our writers and assured us of a welcome when programming inside the ACCC is possible again.
In late November, we learned that we could be present at Harbor House via Zoom. So, for the last few weeks Rhonda and I have appeared there on a single (I believe laptop) screen in their living room while the residents gather around (maintaining their 6-foot distance from each other as best they can), and we go forward, writing and reading to each other. It’s certainly not wonderful—it can be downright awkward to figure out who’s talking, to miss cues and too many words and wonder what’s going on there in the background…
And yet, the women show up and write and read and thank us for coming. Their words are strong and beautiful. Their stories still bring healing, still cry out to be deeply heard.
In some ways, it feels like Freedom Writers is limping along with a partial program. We’ve lost touch with women we grew to care for. We spent a year working in the dark. Rhonda and Elisabeth are both parents of active, school-aged children, with the added responsibility and uncertainty that parenthood brought to them last year.
But we are still here, still writing, still connected to one of our circles. I don’t know what the coming year will bring, just wanted to bring you up to date and ask for your continued support, wisdom, and prayer.