PHOTO ALBUM

Inmate Hospice Volunteers
New Recruits - in their own words

TOMMY - I was born in East Moline, Illinois on August 20th 1980. I have 2 sisters, no brothers. The middle child moved to Burlington, Iowa around 1985 to be closer to my mother’s family.

We have a big family. My great grandmother had 22 children, so family has and always will be a big part of my life, the support and all.

I went to school, high school and made good grades – 3.85 GPA at Burlington High School. I loved to play football.

What made me get involved in the hospice program was that I wanted to get a better understanding on life as a whole. Me being so young and all, I feel that this is a great life experience.

I have learned and will learn more about the limits I have placed on myself. Life only happens once, learn all you can!

GLEN - I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I've got four siblings, three brothers and one sister. My daughter lives in Chicago with her mother and over the years I've kind of lost contact with her, but that's something I'm working on now.

I decided I needed a change, so I moved to the Quad Cities back in 1993. While it was a change, I remained the same and my street ways caught up with me. Even though I'm innocent of the crime for which I was convicted, I'm not innocent of the things I did against humanity while I was out, that I'm not proud of.

So when hospice came to I.S.P., I was hesitant at first to get on board because like all other programs in prison, there's a hidden agenda behind it, and I wanted to make absolutely sure that this wasn't one of those cases.

Once I knew in my heart, soul, and mind that this was a legit program where the needs of those in need of care was being put first and foremost, I then decided that I wanted to be part of something that could bring some honor and dignity to a patient that's terminally ill.

Patients, inmates, offenders don't have to die alone in prison anymore, or be denied the proper care a terminally ill person needs and deserves thanks to this unique and extraordinary hospice program.

I am very grateful for being part of it and would like to thank Marilyn Sales for bringing life to an institution where so many of us are just one day closer to death and for providing quality over quantity of life.

CHUCK - My family moved to central Iowa in 1952. I graduated from high school in 1963. During my school years I worked part-time in various farm related jobs.

The day after graduation I started working in a factory until I joined the Navy in September 1963. I spent almost 10 years in the Navy. Upon release, I moved to Oregon where I worked on a hay ranch and then got into logging.

I joined the Army in December 1974. I spent about 4 years in the Army. My job in the Navy was shipboard navigation and my job in the Army was the fire direction & control as well as operations and intelligence specialist.

In the Navy, I also spent time with an air transport wing as well as 2 years with the staff of Commander Fleet Air Alameda, which was in charge of all of the Navy's Light Attack Squadrons on the West Coast.

On this staff I was assigned to the Operations, Readiness and Training Office where I was involved with the offshore training areas, maintaining the operations, training and aircraft transition schedules of all of the squadrons as well as the schedules for all of the Navy's Aircraft carriers.

In the navy I also spent 23 months, over a period of years, in the combat zones in Viet Nam, Japan, and Singapore. In the Army I was stationed both stateside and in Germany.

After the service, I have worked in a meat packing plant, as a semi-truck driver, short order cook prior to coming to prison. During the time in the service, when my schedule allowed, I have also worked part-time as an auto mechanic, wall plasterer, concrete block and bricklayer, concrete finisher and gas station attendant.

PHOTO ALBUM

Inmate Hospice Volunteers
New Recruits - in their own words

JAMEY - I was born in Clinton, Iowa on July 13th, 1977. I'm the youngest of four. I have two older brothers and one older sister.

As a child I was troubled with feelings of worthlessness, loneliness and depression. I was placed in the juvenile system at the age of 11 and released in 1995 at the age of 18. Through those years I had picked up an extremely bad drug habit that was only worsened by my release.

I was incarcerated in 1999 for murder and robbery. I'm willfully sobered up and have a newfound respect for life and all that I've always taken for granted.

The hardest part of being in prison is that I recognize all my past mistakes and yet I can hardly rectify any of them. I have a beautiful little daughter that for the most part will grow up without her dad.

The past can be thought about and even talked about but it can never be relived.

So I now strive to be the best person I can be while being true to myself. My involvement in hospice is due to my desire to actually help.

My actions have perpetuated enough sadness and destruction in the past. Now I'd like to - if even just for myself - find some positive meaning for my life.

CED - I was born and raised in Louisiana. The middle of three sons born to Calline and Bud Theus Jr. I was always taught to do what was right regardless of the circumstances. Although I didn't get into a lot of trouble as a child, as a teen I started to make poor decision, contrary to how I was raised.

This as well as low self-esteem led to alcohol abuse as a form of self-medicating, which ultimately led me to prison.

Being in prison as well as the passage of time has allowed me to reflect on my entire life. The good times and the lessons, as well as the bad. I chose to take the good, enhance it, and eschew the bad and learn from my mistakes as well as those of others.

The hardest part of being in prison for me aren't the living conditions. I live better than most people in this world. Running water, food whenever I feel like eating, shelter from the elements.

A great deal of people on this earth dream of these essential necessities. I dream of being a father to my son and daughter, and also of being in a position to make peoples lives a little easier, and of becoming a humanitarian.

Not being able to completely live out these dreams, as well as the fact that I played a part in destroying the dreams of another young man is the hardest part of my prison reality.

All of these dynamics played a part in my decision to apply and become a hospice volunteer. Watching my parents as well as other family members take care of our elderly and ill family members instilled that value in me. The main reason though, is simply because volunteers were needed and I feel as if I am capable of answering the call.

Regardless of how society views prisoners, regardless of our past mistakes or shortcomings, we all deserve to die in the most humane way possible. We live in cages, but that doesn't mean we should die like animals. We are more than convicts, inmates, offenders. We are sons, husbands, brothers, fathers, but most of all men.

Some of us are a lot more than the mistakes we have made. Most people fear dying, especially those of us who have caused a great deal of pain to others. Hospice gives a chance to let go of those fears, a chance to feel compassion, to feel cared for, loved, and most of all a chance to feel human again - despite our circumstances. This is what prison hospice gives to the patients as well as to the volunteers.

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