"We benefit from the attentions of many volunteers. People from every walk of life man the library, the chaplain’s library; they lead programs such as parenting, spiritual and self-help classes, yoga and hand bells; they share their wisdom as mentor-counselors. Without the services of these energetic people, our lives would be bland and dreary.

On the flip side, the women of Fluvanna have involved themselves in a number of projects to benefit the community. Some of these might be a surprise.

When officers and staff win trophies, the awards are housed in a case designed and built by the women. The inmates constructed three gazebos that provide shelter from the summer sun and nasty weather for officers and staff. A wishing well drop box the staff uses to collect their donations was crafted by the inmates.

More than this, the women have designed, created, and built furniture, toys, and garden ornaments for wood shows in Richmond. Every year the women participated, their woodwork sold out and the money raised was returned to the Department of Correctional Education to support their vocational programs.

One year the administration allowed the women to build from scratch a dollhouse based on the blueprints for a Habitat for Humanity home. The dollhouse was auctioned off as a fundraiser for a local Habitat project.

The women do more than woodworking projects. Frequently they repair refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, and furnaces that people have dumped. They fully refurbished items that are then given to organizations that either hand them out or sell them cheaply to those in need.

Inmates at Fluvanna also repair eyeglasses. They realign and thoroughly clean the frames and eye pads. These renovated glasses are distributed to indigent people.

The optical services, woodworking projects and HVAC systems are all bi-products of skills learned, and subsequently developed, in Department of Education vocational classes. These classes are not just about teaching the women vocational skills with which they can acquire employment, they teach citizenship. They try to remind the women that they have something important to offer. It is a reminder that we all need each other’s help.

However, many of the women engage in human services that are not formally organized by the administration. These are activities the women have decided on, and pursued, themselves. Many women, over the first five years of FCCW being opened, crocheted toys, baby clothes, and blankets for the UVA Children’s Hospital. They sent dozens of handmade blankets from pregnancy centers in Virginia to orphanages in Central Europe. They have involved themselves in local animal shelters by donating doggie sweaters and making cat toys. One year a group of women responded to a local newspaper story. They combined their resources and talents to send afghans, embroidery, needlework, pillows, and toys to an auction raising money to assist a Fluvanna family with their medical needs.

For several years the administration permitted the women to raise money walking for breast cancer research. The women collect soda can tops for kidney research. Our very first Christmas here at FCCW, we were allowed to donate our canteen food purchases to the local food bank. I remember the shock on the officers’ faces at the mountain of food we collected.

But most of the human service that goes on takes a less materialistic form even though it is just as tangible. Women volunteer enormous amounts of time and energy tutoring each other for school. Others will give their time as a helpmate to a wheelchair-bound fellow inmate. Some women take the time, have the courage to try and mentor new inmates or at-risk inmates through inmate developed and facilitated workshops. Many women take seriously the responsibility of helping ourselves by helping each other.

Many women want to do more. We want to be contributing and positive members of the community. We want to recycle the past prison garbage. We want to share our stories with at-risk youth or people struggling with life-shattering decisions. We want to be part of the solution because we intimately understand the nature of the problem.

So while I never cease to be grateful for the people who take time from their busy lives out there to share their talents with us in here, I am amazed and inspired by the women in here who actively seek ways to help others. For some of us, being able to contribute towards the needs of others is a major step in reclaiming our humanity." (Elizabeth Haysom, Fluvanna Review, December 28, 2006).

Elizabeth Haysom is presently incarcerated at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, Virginia. This column is one of a series, published under the general heading 'Glimpses from Inside.'