Week 10: Voices from Within & Continued Growth of Food for Fairness

Welcome back to Week 10 of this ongoing rehabilitative journey! Sincerely, your continued interest and support mean everything to me. 

This week, I had the profound opportunity to sit down with a remarkable individual whose story, in every respect, embodies the principles of resilience and interpersonal transformation. The man I spoke with is a formerly incarcerated individual who now serves as the head chef at The Fortune Society. Notably, our conversation not only reinforced many of the themes I explored last week with Seán Dalpiaz of the Osborne Association but also added a deeply personal perspective to the philosophy that “rehabilitation for prisoners must start while they are still incarcerated, and continue through their release.” Allow me to recount my conversation with him.

Our interview began with a striking question from the chef himself: “What do you think is the primary difference between being confined and being on the outside?” After a moment of hesitation on my end, I offered some tentative thoughts, but he quickly answered his own question with poignant clarity and conviction: “We want what we don’t have, we want time and we want freedom.” This simple yet pointed statement encapsulates the core of the incarceration experience – the deprivation of choice, autonomy, and the basic human right to decide how to spend one’s time.

That lone statement struck me. I was captivated, eager to hear more of his insight. But in an attempt to form a follow-up question, I began to uncontrollably stutter—struggling to utter words I had so effortlessly strung together in previous interviews. Evidently, his account had unsettled me—not out of discomfort, but from the sheer profundity of his lived experience. 

As I felt the cafeteria begin to quiet around us, he leaned forward and elaborated: “You see, when you’re inside, your days are dictated by someone else. You don’t get to choose when you eat, when you sleep, or even when you can walk outside. Choices are scarce. Thirty-five years went fast for me, not because I was busy, but because I wasn’t allowed to be. Without choices, you lose track of time and you lose track of yourself.”

He paused, then added with a wry and almost sarcastic smile, “That’s why I tell young people like you to stay out of prison. Out here, you have the privilege of making decisions, of shaping your own life. Inside, you just exist.” I paused for a moment and thought this over – the ability to make meaningful choices, to engage in productive activities, and to exercise individual agency. These individual freedoms, rather, the lack thereof, compressed his experience spent incarcerated, rendering decades of closely monitored, fettered existence feel like transient, fleeting moments in time. That shook me.

From this lived experience, he passionately advocates for a more comprehensive and humane prison system – one that prioritizes providing prisoners with a sufficient variety of meaningful activities and opportunities for character growth. “Prisoners need more things to do; things that further themselves and help them contribute to the betterment of society,” he emphasized. He believes that education, particularly a college education, should be free and accessible to those of whom are currently or formerly incarcerated. As this was a hindrance he personally encountered, he sees it as a vital issue that must be addressed to truly bolster rehabilitation and reduce recidivism in its entirety.

Turning to Food for Fairness, this week has brought some encouraging developments. As we await the official seal of incorporation book—the formal documentation that will certify our status as a registered nonprofit corporation—the momentum within our organization continues to build. Moreover, I am happy to report that our leadership team remains steadfast and committed, with the teen CFO and COO actively refining our operational frameworks and compliance protocols every week. We have also begun drafting a strategic plan for community engagement events that will align with our mission of sustainability, self-advocacy, and collective uplift – of which I intend to submit as part of my deliverable. These plans include collaborative roundtables with partners like Deshawn Kenner and Community Compassion, aiming to conjoin nutritional relief efforts with civic empowerment initiatives.

In closing, this week’s dialogue with the head chef at The Fortune Society has reinforced a vital truth: rehabilitation is not a moment that begins at release but a perpetual journey that must be nurtured from the inside out. It is a reminder that the work we do, both within our nonprofit and in partnership with organizations dedicated to reentry, must be holistic, compassionate, and relentless.