Nick’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | November 22, 2017 |
Nick stands in front of the Washington Monument

If you had asked me what I wanted out of life when I was 16, I would have just shrugged my shoulders at you. I wouldn’t have had any answers…

Varvie’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | October 24, 2016 |
Marcus, Varvie, Keela

Varvie was just shy of his 18th birthday when he was arrested, charged and convicted as an adult. He spent the next 11 ½ years in federal prisons across the…

Malik’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | September 15, 2016 |
Malik Success Story

Malik was not surprised to find himself charged and incarcerated as an adult at the DC Jail when he was just 16 years old. “I knew by the choices I…

Will’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | November 23, 2015 |

“Being a better man makes me a better father…I don’t want to let him down. I want to show him what I think a father is—someone who you can trust,…

“My Story” by Sergio

By Free Minds Book Club | November 9, 2015 |
Sergio's Story

“From then on, whenever the cell doors closed for the night, I’d start writing. And the crazy thing was, I was in jail, but when I was writing, I felt…

Charlie’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | October 30, 2015 |
Charlie

“All that playin’ tag and swingin’ on the swing set? All that just faded away. They call it ‘jumping off the porch.’ In the streets, they didn’t care about my…

Gary’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | October 9, 2015 |

“After I learned to read and write poetry with Free Minds, I started to feel confident and I wrote my first poem titled ‘Mommy.’ Writing that poem was very therapeutic…

Phil’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | August 18, 2015 |
Phil

“I remembered I did want to change. I wanted to give back after taking so much from so many.”

Robert’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | December 2, 2014 |

“To tell you the truth, I expected to get locked up.  My friends and I knew that one of two things was going to happen to us.  We were going…

Juan’s Story

By Free Minds Book Club | November 30, 2014 |
Juan

I believe the only way the crime will go down is if we have quality programming on the inside and the outside.  We need training to see that ultimately the…