$100K in 10 Days – Featuring our Truth Be Told graduate, Zerri

We still have four more days of fundraising, so if you haven’t made your donation yet, you can do so by visiting here. We need your support to expand programs to more women across TDCJ facilities in Texas.

Today we feature Zerri who’s been released for a little over a year. Her enthusiasm is contagious as she recounts how her life has shifted since she began doing trauma healing work. Her transformation has been amazing to witness! Learn more about Zerri’s journey by reading her blog below and viewing her video here. 

TBT: Why are programs like TBT important?

Zerri: Incarceration is very dehumanizing not to mention isolating, leaving a person feeling lost and alone in many cases.  It’s extremely difficult to be released from prison and not have a dramatic change in one’s beliefs and behaviors.  Without love and support it can lead to continued problems and repeated incarcerations.  The criminal justice system doesn’t really focus on release or help try and remove the barriers that make it hard for those being released to be successful.  That’s why it is so important for TBT to continue not only inside but outside beyond incarceration.

TBT: What is your favorite mantra, motto, or words of affirmation? 

Zerri: 

Motto – I am loved, I am worthy and I am enough

Affirmation – I can do this!

Phrase – My value doesn’t decrease based on someone else’s inability to see my worth.

TBT: What is the most memorable tool or lesson that you learned from TBT and still utilize today? 

Zerri: The most memorable lesson for me while incarceration was doing my timeline.  The patterns that were revealed to me have been life changing.  The timeline allowed me to see a very important pattern in how I was responding to life’s experiences.  Learning this pattern has helped me to make different choices and healthier decisions for my life today.  Learning my truth has allowed me to not make the same choices I previously made and helps me move forward daily instead of backward.

TBT: We always say that everyone is one choice away from incarceration at some point in their life. What is the choice that led you to incarceration? 

Zerri: The choice that led me back into drug addiction and criminal activity always came from the need to have others approve of me.  I based almost all my choices on what others would think of me and not what was healthy for my life.  

TBT: What is most surprising about your life today?

Zerri: I am continually surprised by what I find myself doing each day.  Sometimes I look in the mirror and am amazed at the person I see looking back at me.  A woman who is daily learning how to survive her past and hold her head up.  A woman who has and is overcoming obstacles and remaining sober and free.  A woman who is healing and becoming whole.

TBT: Describe your best and worst day in prison.

Zerri: My best day in prison was my last day in prison.  Period.

My worst day in prison was when I was told my mother had passed away.  Never, not once, did I think I would be released and not be able to see my mothers face.  It was the most difficult time I endured while incarcerated.

This is the kind of reflective, transformational thinking that our graduates engage in while participating in our programs. Our hope is to always create an opportunity for reflection and growth. We invite you to join us at our event on December 8th at 7:45 pm where two other graduates will share their stories and experience in real-time. You can purchase your tickets by visiting this link. All proceeds go to fund our programs behind and beyond bars.