As I sit here writing this, today is my last day of employment at Jubilee’s Department of Reentry. During this bittersweet moment, one thing keeps swirling through my head: the power of a comma.
During college, I took a course inside a state prison; half of my classmates were incarcerated and half of them were students from my university. During that experience, my classmates and I discussed at length how inmate registry numbers are deeply dehumanizing.
Today, when I send letters to potential applicants of our Reentry Transitional Housing Program who are incarcerated, I am required to include their register number on the envelope to ensure the mail is sent to the correct person. Each time, I place a comma between the person’s name and their register number. A tiny action, but one intended to distinguish the individual’s humanity from their experience of incarceration—or the circumstances that led to it.
This strikes me as a microcosm of the Department of Reentry’s broader mission: we create space between the person and their history of justice involvement. This effort is not meant to ignore or minimize the impact this history has had on them, but rather to empower our residents to understand that they are more than their pasts and that their futures can look different.
Every day, our residents prove this to be true. Each milestone, each workforce development program entered, each class enrolled in, each long-term apartment secured is a testament to their unwavering perseverance and commitment to growth. Our society is too often quick to dismiss or devalue those who are justice-impacted. But the unfounded assumptions that they will not or cannot contribute to their communities could not be more incorrect. Our residents constantly astound us with their selflessness, their drive, and their commitment to giving back. They are ready to make themselves and the world a better place, they just need to be provided the opportunity to do so; the power of a comma.
This blog was written by Meredith Wilson, former Community Outreach Coordinator for Jubilee’s Reentry Housing & Services Program. Meredith departed Jubilee to attend Yale Law School, where she will continue pursuing her passion for justice and equity. We are grateful for her contributions and proud to celebrate her exciting next chapter!