Most have endured constant cruelty and unfathomable abuse. Most have been enticed into submission through ulterior motives and/or pervasive manipulation. Many have lost their children and come from broken homes.

Aside from the locked bars on the windows and doors of their incarceration, these women are paralyzed in a prison of hopelessness, depression, and despair.

It is always remarkable to me when one of these dear souls finally chooses to rise as a Phoenix from her ashes. When an incarcerated citizen learns the world is filled with good people (as well as bad); when she learns there are people who genuinely care; when she can actually learn to trust humankind while maintaining appropriate healthy boundaries, these women experience breath-taking ah-ha moments. I have witnessed unparalleled success in some, and honestly, have added to my ever-growing list of heroes.

Let me share the story of one incarcerated citizen, in particular. I will call her Sally. As Sally is taught the lessons, tools and principles from the GO Broken the Beautiful™ (#1 International Bestseller) Manual and Course through New View Concepts, she is overcoming the unspeakable. Evaluating her partnership with God through the lesson on spirituality, she is climbing out of her self-inflicted prison. She has found peace and relief through repentance, and love and acceptance from a God who cherishes her and loves her even when she makes bad choices. Her guilt and shame are subsiding and she is recognizing she IS a good person and that her mistakes do not define her.

Over the months of our Response-Ability Coaching™ together, Sally has welcomed a “new view.” As she trips and stumbles in our coaching sessions, Sally never fails to pick herself up and try again. Conquering emotional triggers is not easy, but she doesn’t give up. She is truly striving to become her best self by doing her homework and practicing the tools and principles she is taught. These tools have become an “insurance policy,” of sorts, and will arm her for the rest of her life as she faces challenges, adversity, and temptations. She will have the skills needed to exercise more productive and appropriate response-ability.

Sally is learning to manage her thought processes and now recognizes the dominant negative thinking patterns that brought her to prison in the first place. She has realized she is where she is because of the choices she alone made—stemming from her own negative, unproductive thoughts. She is learning to be accountable for those choices, and no longer blames law enforcement or “the system” for arresting her and bringing her to justice. Sally has thanked the guards and warden and the administrative team for their involvement in her healing and recovery. And the most remarkable experience in all this: Sally has forgiven her perpetrators—and even her aunt and uncle.

Truly now, however, as Sally reaches and stretches to live a higher law, as she recognizes she has purpose and is important in God’s eternal plan, Sally realizes the sacred gifts she has been given—especially as the mother of her own precious children. Sally knows now how important it is to nurture, buoy and uplift her children, and that no matter what choices they make in life, they are loved by a mother unconditionally—and a God who will always be by their side. She is teaching her own children the values and character attributes that will lead them to success and happiness--and most certainly, toward an eternity of joy. Sally’s influence will be felt for generations to come. As she sets an example of determination, tenacity, righteousness, and accountability for herself, for her children, for others, and for God, she is breaking the cycle of generational abuse, crime, addiction, and poverty.

UPDATE: Our Sally has come forward and is bravely owning her story.

Multi-state recidivism analyses suggests an estimated 68% of released prisoners were arrested within 3 years, 79% within 6 years, and 83% within 9 years (NCJ Number 250975, May 2018, Recidivism of Prisoners Released). It is clear that without a plan, without education, without a body of people who care enough to reach out to help these broken people, not knowing or learning anything different, two-thirds of these prisoners will fall victim again to temptations, poor choices, and the cruelties of human life, and their cycles of abuse and legal entanglements will continue. If these incarcerated citizens go into jail/prison with no skills or tools to help them be accountable and more response-able, and they likewise come out with no skills or tools, their lives will be no different, and prison/jail will most likely be in their face again.

We have created the GO Broken to Beautiful™ Foundation, Inc. and call our efforts, The Prison Project. As we teach the GO Broken to Beautiful™ and GO Broken to Badass™ Courses, combined with Neural Linguistic Programming, inmates embrace a new identity fortified by real skills, tools, and principles that help them live a life of accountability. If these justice-impacted citizens truly internalize the lessons that help them go from survival to stability, from success to significance, they begin living and directing their lives on purpose with purpose.