“WELCOME HOME CHERYL” Copyright Laurie H Davis
Imagine
14 months behind bars. Separated from family, friends, your business and everything familiar to you. Leaving the environment of a privileged life to one without any privileges. How scary is that? Especially when you have been rail roaded using trumped up accusations to build a case against you. It happens every single day in our criminal justice system. Cheryl is a remarkably successful businesswoman and knows how to make money and be prosperous. But these are often the targets of discrimination and injustice. In the past 40 years the number of female incarcerations has increased by 800%. Cheryl Womack came out of prison prepared to do something about it all. A beautiful mature woman has come along to support a much- needed segment of our society that has been totally ignored. Women in prison are all too familiar with the changes that need to take place. For the next while Cheryl will be dedicating her time and energy to empower and support women who are on their way to jail, in jail already and those getting out. During our interviews I could feel the passion with which Cheryl has embraced her next assignment in life. Many women in prison left babies and children behind. Aging parents, partners families and friends who also have experienced a tremendous loss with having their Mom, daughter, sister put away are included in that. Prison is a dangerous environment and it’s a fact that some can get killed in there. So, what is in place to prepare us to stay safe and alive so we can get home in one piece? According to Cheryl, at this point in time there is nothing in place to educate women on any of it.
empower, develop self-worth and to let the women know that there are people who care and that they matter. Cheryl was one of the lucky ones. She was already established in business, had a loving husband and sons who were there for her throughout her time. Not everyone is so fortunate. Families often abandon the member as a result of the separation. It is extremely difficult to hold a family together without communication and a woman is allowed only one phone call per day if she is lucky.
I asked Cheryl how we support Women of Worth wow efforts. What can we do? When we purchase a children’s book the organization donates a second book to a Mom in prison. You can order the book on the website www.womenofworthwow.org Once the structure is in place, we can donate money to help secure housing and basic needs once ladies are released. Many of these women come out and have lost everything, they have no one to turn to and no where to go. Prison reform is required and mandatory. Yes, this is a hard road ahead. However, in the meantime we can work together with Cheryl and other women who have had similar experiences to make a difference. - Laurie H Davis
Watch now on Self-Worth the Missing Link Channel
“How do we tackle it all” I asked her, in our Big Media USA show episode. Cheryl’s ultimate goal will be to one day present herself to Congress. In the meantime, she has taken steps to create an organization to provide hands on support to the women in her area and surrounding states. One tool she created was a book written to support Mom’s and their kids to explain that the love is still there even though Mom had to go away for awhile to camp. A series of training materials and workshops are being developed to educate,
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Laurie H Davis
Cheryl Womack
